The United States of America has handed over the names of
Nigerian oil thieves to President Muhammadu Buhari, a member of the President’s
entourage during last week’s visit to the US confided in The PUNCH on Tuesday.
“I can tell you that the President already has the list of
names of the people engaging in the stealing of Nigeria’s oil. The list, when
released by the President, will shock Nigerians.
But let’s wait and see first,”
the source said.
The source said Buhari was taken aback when he saw the names
on the list and that the list given to the President by the US might compel him
to probe the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
A Presidency source also confirmed that Buhari had such a
list but that “the President has been keeping the list to himself.”
The source, who told our correspondent about the list in the
President’s possession, said the US gave Buhari two separate lists – one
listing the names of top government officials who have been stealing the
country’s oil, using their high offices to perpetrate the stealing; and the
other containing the names of illegal oil bunkerers.
The President had said last week that some ministers in the
cabinet of Jonathan were stealing as much as 250,000 barrels of Nigeria’s crude
daily.
The Presidency source, who spoke to one of our
correspondents on condition of anonymity, said Buhari had vowed that those
whose names appeared on the list would not go scot-free.
“The President will probe all of them and make sure they
return whatever fortune they had made from their thievery,” the source said.
The source said the President was already tinkering with the
idea of constituting a panel to investigate those on the list with a view to
arriving at how to deal with them based on the findings of the committee.
However, it was gathered that, unlike the usual probe
panels, the President would likely set up a special security team to handle the
probe.
The PUNCH learnt that the names
on the list of oil thieves are a mixture of highly placed government officials,
and retired and serving military officers.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress said on Tuesday
that it supported the probe of the Jonathan administration by Buhari in the
light of mind-boggling corruption that had been uncovered by the Federal Government.
“Some people have insinuated that the Buhari administration
should ignore the massive looting of our patrimony and move on. We say no
responsible government can afford to do that, because it will amount to
endorsing corruption and impunity,’’ the party said in a statement issued in
Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The APC said billions of dollars had been skimmed off by
“pathologically-corrupt public officials” in the oil sector alone, wondering
how the government of the day could meet its obligations to the citizens if it
refused to recover the huge funds taken away by thieving officials
Mohammed’s statement read, ‘‘It is an irony that those who
are suggesting that the Buhari administration should turn a blind eye to the
incomprehensible looting are the same ones accusing the government of not doing
anything.
“It is even a cruel irony that the same party that presided
over what is fast emerging as the worst governance in the history of our country
is the same one that is daily bad-mouthing an administration that is cleaning
up its mess.
‘‘Where does one start from? Is it the fact that the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation failed to remit N3.8tn to the
Federation Account or the mind-blowing stealing of 250,000 barrels of crude oil
per day?
“Is it the fact that the NNPC itself does not know how many
bank accounts it had or into which ones the payments for Nigerian crude are
made? Could anyone have imagined that a government minister would steal the
unprecedentedly-huge amount of US $6bn of public funds as being alleged?
‘‘How does any sane person rationalise the fact that $1bn
was unilaterally and illegally withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account just
because, as the immediate past Minister of Finance has disclosed, the President
ordered the withdrawal? What about the billions of naira waivers recklessly
approved to dubious importers by the Jonathan administration?”
It added, ‘‘Is it not clear now that the stealing and the
profligacy – more than anything else, including the fall in oil price – helped
to drastically reduce the monthly allocation from the Federation Account from
about N800bn to about N400bn , thus pauperising the states and the local
governments, and by extension the citizenry?
“Against the background of the stunning revelations, what
message will any government be sending to its citizens and indeed the global
community by looking the other way, when it could still recover some of the
looted funds for the benefit of the people?
“This is why we are supporting the Buhari administration’s
probe decision and we are calling on all Nigerians to support ongoing efforts
to get to the root of the matter.”
The APC said it was clear that the Jonathan administration
had deliberately delayed giving the then incoming Buhari government the
handover notes so as to avoid being asked critical questions pertaining to the
looting under its watch.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party said it was on the same
page with Buhari in the fight against corruption, but that due process must be
followed.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary,
Chief Olisa Metuh, in Abuja on Tuesday, said the clarification became necessary
so as to remove any misconception that it was against the decision of the
present administration to probe some past officials of government because they
were PDP members.
Metuh said, “The PDP supports the decision of the Federal
Government to fight corruption in our country.
“However, we make bold to state that it should not be
disguised to victimise innocent citizens. Democracy has come to stay in Nigeria
and no citizen, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic affiliation,
should be denied access to due process and the rule of law in the process.”
He added, “Furthermore, we make bold to state that he who
comes to equity must come with clean hands. In that regard, therefore, we
advise members of the APC blowing the horn ahead of the cart to keep quiet
because many of them have been major beneficiaries of corruption and sleaze
associated with themselves and their allies, especially one of them who as a
disguised errand boy of a well-known APC leader is a major beneficiary of the
largesse of perpetrators of corruption.
“Apart from Mr. President, who for now, is not associated
with any sleaze or corrupt activity in this democracy, most APC leaders are
still those who as governors, ministers and labour leaders have been the worst
corrupt set of Nigerians ever to bestride the political landscape of the
country.
“It is a great miscarriage of perception therefore for the
APC leaders who are perpetrators of sleaze and corrupt acts to attempt to
deceive Nigerians with imaginary holiness in this anti-corruption war by the
President.”
Consequently, he called on the President, as the leader of
the APC to remove the log in the eyes of his party while “we support his
commitment to remove the speck from the eyes of others.”
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