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Ribadu Report Exposes Crass Corruption in Petroleum Ministry, Diezani Reacts

By on October 25, 2012

Oil Minister, Diezani Madueke stands accused of participating in Corruption

 

When the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke set up the Nuhu Ribadu led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, she had no idea she would emerge as one of the culprits serially indicted in his committee’s findings.

The Minister has sat on the 142 page report which has been ready for over a month, allegedly due to her implication in the report’s findings.

The report indicted the minister and her ministry for several shady and/or opaque dealings since her tenure begin in 2011.

Firstly the report alleges that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) sells itself crude oil for refining at a huge discount to international market prices, and this practice has shortchanged the country of $5 billion from 2002 to 2011.

“NNPC buys at international rates,” Alison-Madueke replied.

Also the report alleges that the ministry often sells crude oil to international traders in secret circumstances and without recourse to due process, allowing for obscene sums of monies to be looted by corrupt officials.

According to Reuters, it (the report) said some international oil traders who were not “on the approved master list of customers” had been sold crude oil “without a formal contract” so little could be obtained about the details of these deals, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“This logically will serve to reduce margins obtainable on sale of crude oil,” the report said.

Madueke also disputed this saying there are no such informal contracts but there is “an official tender put out every year”, which can be seen by the public in newspapers.

Finally the report accuses petroleum ministers who served between 2008 to 2011 of handing out seven discretionary oil licenses of which $183 in signature bonuses are missing. Diezani was accused of having been involved in three of those deals since she took the position in 2010.

“I have not given any discretionary awards during this administration,” Alison-Madueke told Reuters, although she added that the president had the right to do so instead of using bids if he saw fit. “That is entirely up to him,” she said.

Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke told Reuters on Tuesday she had received the (Ribadu) report last month but that it was a draft and the government was still supposed to give input. The one seen by Reuters was labeled “Final Report.”

She added, “It is a draft,” Alison-Madueke said. “There will be some areas where the government … may have a slightly different opinion … (and) will put its point of view to the committee.”

Shell is of the opinion that the report will never see the light of day as a Spokesperson there said, “We have not seen this report and are, therefore, unable to comment on the content, but we will study it if and when it is published.”

 

2 Comments

  1. Allegory

    October 25, 2012 at 8:20 am

    Those are the cabal Jonathan can not fight because they eat the money together

  2. princewill

    October 26, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    this cabals will be on the run when the youth will rise up against this evil and corrupt leaders we have in Nigeria.