President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday order per the release of the full report of the forensic audit into the funds of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which has generated much furore in the political circles.
The audit conducted by PriceWaterHouseCoopers was ordered by the Federal Goverment following allegations that a monumental sum of $20 billion was missing from the oil revenue accounts of the federation.
Although the government released the summary of the report in February, it withheld the full report, which did not help to assuage the desire of Nigerians for fuller disclosure on the subject.
President -elect Muhammad Buhari at the weekend still spoke of the allegations of the missing billions from the NNPC as if no prior inquiry had been made into the matter. Buhari said specifically that such monumental fraud will not be allowed to be swept under the carpet, indicating that he will conduct a probe into the allegations.
In an apparent response to Buhari’s position, the presidency according to a statement in a statement the Special Dviser to the President on Media and Punlicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, directed that the full report be made public.
According to the statement, the availability of the report to the public would make Nigerians properly informed on the matter.
President Jonathan’s decision is in line with Section 7(2) of the NNPC Act.
“President Jonathan is also deeply concerned by the continuing suggestions that his administration still has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20 Billion is unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure,” the statement read.
Earlier, Nigeria’s President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, said his administration would revisit the allegation made by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido, that about $20 billion oil revenue was not remitted into the federation account.
Alleged Last Minute Looting
President Jonathan’s order is coming after it was reported that the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Lai Mohammed, alleged that officials of the Federal Government were engaged in “last minute looting of the nation’s resources, rushed privatisation of key institutions and hurried recruitment into the public service”.
Responding to the allegation in the statement, the presidency said: “We also consider as most unfortunate and uncharitable, the suggestion by Alhaji Mohammed that the Jonathan Administration is trying to “tie the hands” of the incoming government merely by continuing to discharge its constitutional responsibilities until the end of its tenure”.
The presidency further stated that Jonathan’s administration had continued to do its best to ensure a smooth and peaceful handover over of power to the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, saying it regrets “unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in Mr Mohammed’s statement”.
“President Jonathan has done his best in the past five years to discharge his constitutional responsibilities for good governance and effective leadership of the nation.
“In continuing to fulfil the obligations of his office however, President Jonathan has not, and will never condone any form of unscrupulous conduct on the part of state officials” the statement read.
The statement further stressed that President Jonathan would “never authorise any attempt to create any problems for the incoming administration”.
Read the full statement:
PRESIDENT JONATHAN ORDERS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF REPORT OF FORENSIC AUDIT OF NNPC ACCOUNTS, DISMISSES ALLEGATION OF LAST MINUTE LOOTING, RUSHED PRIVATISATION AND HURRIED RECRUITMENT INTO FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE
We have noted with concern, the allegation by the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed that officials of the Federal Government are engaged in “last minute looting of the nation’s resources, rushed privatization of key institutions and hurried recruitment into the public service”.
We also consider most unfortunate and uncharitable, the suggestion by Alhaji Mohammed that the Jonathan Administration is trying to “tie the hands” of the incoming government merely by continuing to discharge its constitutional responsibilities until the end of its tenure.
The Jonathan Administration which continues to do its best to ensure a smooth and peaceful handover over of power to the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, deeply regrets the unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in Alhaji Mohammed’s statement.
President Jonathan has done his best in the past five years to discharge his constitutional responsibilities for good governance and effective leadership of the nation.
Without any prejudice whatsoever to the freedom of the incoming administration to do as it pleases, within the confines of extant laws when it assumes office, the Jonathan Administration will continue to discharge its responsibility to govern until May 29, 2015.
In continuing to fulfil the obligations of his office however, President Jonathan has not, and will never condone any form of unscrupulous conduct on the part of state officials.
President Jonathan will also never authorise any attempt to create any problems for the incoming administration as the APC spokesperson, who ought to know that the outcome of the March 28 presidential elections does not imply a cessation of governance, unjustly alleges.
As Alhaji Mohammed threatened in his statement, the incoming administration will be perfectly within its rights to review all actions of the present government as it may deem fit.
We see nothing wrong with that. After all, the present Administration reviewed the actions of previous governments on assumption of office with resultant benefits for policy and project implementation.
President Jonathan is also deeply concerned by the continuing suggestions that his administration still has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20 Billion is unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure.
To lay the matter to rest, President Jonathan in line with Section 7(2) of the NNPC Act, has directed that the full report of the PWC Forensic Audit of the NNPC accounts be released immediately to the public so that all Nigerians will be properly informed on the matter.
Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
April 27, 2015
