Popular human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has once again, called for a probe of the tenure of the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Keyamo had petitioned the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives on June 17, asking the National Assembly to commence investigations into the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The two key probe-worthy issues listed in his petition are the; crude oil swap programme and offshore processing agreements of the NNPC.
In an interview with Sahara TV on Saturday, June 27, Keyamo said there were several issues that prompted his calls for investigations into Alison-Madueke’s management of the ministry.
“It is about a whole lot of issues. In my petition, I was particular about what has come to be known as the crude oil swap deals. Under this arrangement, we never knew that a lot of our crude oil was given to private oil companies in exchange for their bringing in petroleum products. Under one arrangement, they were supposed to take it out. We signed (out) the products and then took them back to Nigeria whether they were petroleum products or by-products.
“Under the other arrangement, we were supposed to be given the crude oil to sell at the international market and then use the money to import petroleum products into the country. Now, there have been reports in the papers of late that under these arrangements, certain Nigerian oil and gas companies made very huge, unwarranted profits and the simple reason is that they imported far less than the crude oil that they bought.
“Under this arrangement, some of them bought private jets, property around the world and began to live large. Certain individuals in the NNPC were seen as collaborators in this deceitful and grand plot. Before the minister left office, she picked up her pen and wrote a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, inviting it to probe these individuals and these groups. And I asked myself some imple questions: It is a bit curious who had supervisory authority over these individuals and these issues.”
“Why did she wait till the last minute to write a petition to the EFCC to probe these deals? And I told myself: It is not a safe person who runs to a police station to complain that is always the victim of the crime.”
I agree with Keyamo completely on this matter. I am surprised PMB is yet to institute one single probe panel. Before long the whole thing will lose steam and the perpetrators neatly cover their schemes. Given the lull, any panelists coming up now may have to work extra hard to wade through the cover up before unearthing the main fraud. The consolation however is that they were so brazen, such that even the blind could picture it without aid. Secondly, speed is of the essence and that will send the right signals, that indeed change is here. For change to be factual and effective, it must be total, swift and radical in approach. A slow and measured approach may be inimical to the process. Part of why Nigerians are getting bored or disillusioned stems from this very fact. If the outgone Minister of Petroleum could petition some members of her management team, that should have naturally aided the cause of the President by simply enlarging the scope of the investigations to cover the whole gamut of the rot in the petroleum industry. By now most of those moving about and causing mischief could have long been taken care of. So long as these cabal remain on the prowl, so long shall the APC crisis continue to smolder until it comes to a highly combustible point. In all of this, both the President and the ordinary Nigerian will be worse off for it. PMB coasted home victory on the crest of tremendous goodwill and cannot afford to squander same or jeopardize the high expectations of the people. The setting up of panels of investigations into the many critical areas of our national malaise is key to curbing corruption.
The time to act is now, enough of the excuses. If human beings insist they will not act in any direction until t hey are sure no mistake is made, then, little or nothing would be achieved.