Angry Ezekwesili Challenges Okonjo-Iweala to Account for 'Missing' U.S.$10.8 Billion' Oil Money!

Former Vice President of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, has taken the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to task over the sloppy manner the government has handled the issue of the 'missing' $49.8billion oil money.





The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, had, in a memo to President Goodluck Jonathan accused the NNPC of diverting huge oil revenue that should be paid to the federation account.

Mr. Sanusi had alleged that the NNPC systematically diverted more than 76 per cent of revenues realised from crude oil sales between January 2012 and July 2013, paying only 24 per cent of the proceeds from crude oil sales within the period into the federation account.
Later, at the end of a purported reconciliation meeting with the NNPC and other agencies, the CBN governor and Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala claimed the bulk of the money was not missing, but that about $10.8billion was yet to be accounted for.

The NNPC claimed, last week, that the missing $10.8 billion was spent on oil subsidy payments, repairs of vandalized oil pipeline facilities and operational costs.

However, the NNPC's explanation appeared not to have convinced some Nigerians, who feel that the manner the issue was handled by the government left much to be desired.

Mrs. Ezekwesili, who said she was one of such Nigerians dissatisfied with the explanations offered by the NNPC, took to her tweeter handle, @obyezeks, at about 4:44 p.m. Nigerian time, on Wednesday, to express disappointment and frustration at the NNPC's lack of accountability.
The former minister of education, popularly known as 'Madam Due Process' for her consistent insistence on transparency and accountability, in a series of tweets urged Nigerians to stand up and demand accountability over the matter.
She challenged Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala to personally shoulder the responsibility of accounting to Nigerians about the 'missing money, pointing out that "a good place to start would be if the Coo (Coordinating) Minister of Economy can sign off on NNPC's breakdown of the "missing $10Billion".

She said, "Madam Minister, @NOIweala, can we please v (verify?) your signed off breakdown of the "missing $10Billion" that NNPC must account for?," she asked. "It would help raise confidence in the administration if you! @NOIweala took up the accounting for the "missing $$10 Billion".

#PublicPolicy101: Madam Minister @NOIweala can we please v your signed off BREAK DOWN of D "missing $10Billion" that NNPC must ACCOUNT FOR?
-- oby ezekwesili (@obyezeks) January 16, 2014

#PublicPolicy101: Since you @NOIweala will be presenting #Budget2014 BREAK DOWN on the 22nd. Also provide BREAK DOWN OF "missing $10Billion
-- oby ezekwesili (@obyezeks) January 16, 2014

Justifying her demand for Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala to take personal responsibility to render account, Mrs. Ezekwesili noted that "statutorily, the NNPC must render accounts to her, @NOIweala, as our finance minister. If she signs off, we ought to assume all is well."

"... until NNPC realizes that Citizens will not believe their accounting without @NOIweala ... . Signing off the appropriateness and accuracy of those "operational expenditure", they will repeat bad behaviour again", she said.

Pre-empting possible attacks from some Nigerians who might not share her view on her advice to Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, the former World Bank Vice President noted: "There will of course be some of the typical "chicken that defends Christmas" behaviour by some trollers on my TL (timeline), but you waste your time... .

"Some of the "chicken that defends Christmas" behaviour would even be put up by some of the 54% jobless youths that cannot connect the dots."
She challenged other Nigerians who are worried over the issue to respond to her tweet. "If as a Citizen, you are as vexed as I am at the way the issue of "missing $10Billion" has been handled tweet @ me".

The former minister continued, "Citizens who allow politicians to set the agenda while they just react have themselves to blame for lack of tangible result from governance.
"The day we begin to see tangible results from governance is the day Citizens master agenda setting around the deep challenges of our society.
"Is there yet a detailed breakdown of the "missing" $10Billion that NNPC said it used for "XYZZY & Operational Expenses?".

Apparently drawing the attention of members of the National Assembly to what their role should be in resolving the issue, Mrs. Ezekwesili queried: "Can the NASS gain the confidence of citizens by ending "tales" of this kind where $$10 Billion is so lightly esteemed?"
"Does NNPC know that some African countries sweat to raise $5Million to stay afloat? And here, $10Billion is waved off?"

Mrs. Ezekwesili also took a swipe at the media for not paying sufficient attention to the matter, saying "When citizens and media act unperturbed by the "murky" accounting for the "missing $10Billion, the rest of the world hiss!".

Drawing the attention of the NNPC to her campaign for accountability on the issue, she said: "Hello, NNPC! Here is one Citizen that demands accurate accounting for the "missing" $10Billion. What happened to it? What?"

The handling of the controversy by the government has irked a lot of Nigerians, who feel there are more to the explanations so far given by the parties involved.

For the Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Abdulmumini Jubrin, who was commenting on the issue during a recent television interview last week, the NNPC's explanation on the missing billions is unacceptable.

"For me, NNPC's explanation is an afterthought," Mr. Jubrin said. "If the NNPC knew the $10.8billion was spent on the payment of fuel subsidy and repair of vandalized pipelines, why did they wait for several weeks to tell Nigerians that?"

culled from Premium Times

Power Sector Privatization: Where Is The Light?!

Just do a rough estimate as an individual, corporate body, small scale business fellow or artisan, of how much you spent buying fuel or diesel to power your generator for last year alone. After you come up with an estimate, think of what you would have done with that money to improve your lot, if our power sector was working. I think I would have bought a second hand car or even a keke Napep(put same on the road and make some income). 

The power situation this past festive period was one of the worst I have ever seen in Nigeria. We have not really had it good when it comes to power (or even anything else), but this will rank up there amongst the worst ever. We are in 2014 and the signs are not good at all.

I was one of the first to commend the government when last year it fulfilled its promise of privatizing the power sector. It was one sector I think we needed to improve on, as the importance of power to the growth of our dear country cannot be over emphasized. Privatizing the power sector, I believed, would bring a new lease of life even if it means paying more. I still believe same, but the early signs are worrying and to think that we still  pay for services that are not rendered at all, amounts to a scam.

Recently the minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo, blamed the activities of vandals on power stations (which makes for shortage of gas) for the darkness we have found ourselves in. What is happening here? First we were told that it is a new dawn (with the privatization) and the next thing  we are getting are excuses for failure. We have been having the same excuses over the years and one is wont to ask if nothing is being done at all to curb the excesses of the vandals.  What we should be hearing is how this has been curbed to it’s barest minimum or what is being done to stop same. Are there no security operatives guarding these power stations? These are national assets for crying out loud and should be jealously guarded. The civil defense and its likes responsible for guarding and protecting these stations should be empowered more so they can work effectively. The corrupt ones amongst them, who tend to connive with generator dealers some of who pay these vandals to destroy our national assets so as to remain in business, should be identified and booted out.

There should be stiffer penalties for anyone (as well as their sponsors) who gets caught in the act of vandalism. This will act as a deterrent. This should be all out war as it is our country as well as her economy that is at stake. For me, with a functioning power sector we are half way to the Promised Land.

Most of all, I think we need to keep these  vandals busy by creating (more) jobs. Some of these guys are angry at their country. They are idle and frustrated. They are angry that even in abundance there is so much suffering in the land (especially the Niger Delta where a chunk of the country’s wealth comes from). They take out these frustrations on our facilities, or better still sell their services (in this case violence) to the evil ones amongst us. Creating jobs, I believe will reduce vandalism to a great extent.
It is not just enough to tell us vandals are the reasons we are in darkness and nothing is being done about same. Vandalism is a monster successive government created and we must man up to deal with it.

Now I am not saying the power sector should be working at a 100 percent overnight, of course it will take a little while(the telecommunications sector did not do it overnight),but for Pete's sake this is a very terrible way to start. There is no light at all! Nigerians are burning away, what with the heat. 

Businesses are folding up at an alarming rate, artisans do not even bother any more, and people are losing jobs and choosing crime. Something needs to be done and fast too as the power sector is so critical to the development of our country. 

$10.8B Oil Money: Nigerians Want Thorough Breakdown

Recently the CBN governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, accused the NNPC of diverting proceeds from sale of crude oil amounting to 49.8 billion dollars. We were later told it was no longer 49.8 billion dollars that it was now 10.8 billion dollars and that it was not missing. NNPC later gave us an explanation as regards what happened to the 10.8 billion dollars. It did a woeful job, I must confess, because we were not convinced.

I think in their heads they think of us as ignorant bastards, but don’t blame them for thinking such about us, because we have shown them over the years that we somewhat are. In fact by reducing the money from 49.8billion dollars to 10 billion dollars, they must have thought, should have made Nigerians chill, because we always chill.

They said the 10 billion dollars was spent on oil subsidy payments (this same subsidy shaaa), repairs of vandalized oil pipelines (it must be all the pipelines) as well as operational costs (whatever that means), and the balance is yet to be reconciled.

First of all can we reconcile the balance already? Secondly, Nigerians are not buying this explanation. It is so casual. It has nonchalance written all over it! We need, as a matter of urgency, a thorough breakdown of how the money was used, and then we can believe we are ready to tackle corruption which is killing us. The earlier the reconciliation is done as well as a breakdown of how the money was used, the better. Otherwise we have no choice but to believe the money was stolen. 10 billion in dollars is a hell lot of money not to be thoroughly accounted for. 10billion dollars can contribute a lot to making Nigeria a better place!

If proper account is not done and nobody is brought to book for this, then somebody should please tell Jim O’Niel (who has predicted Nigeria amongst nations to become world’s biggest emerging economies thus coining MINT-Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) to remove the ‘N’ in his MINT as we are not ready yet. Not with corruption.

By Chiechefulam Ikebuiro

Princess Dammy opens up on collapsed marriage, blames some of it on bloggers!

In December 2013, comedienne Princess publicly announced the end of her 7-months marriage. In a new interview with Encomium mag, princess broke her silence on the collapsed marriage and said the press, especially bloggers wanted her marriage to collapse. 




Excerpts below...

Qs: There were some allegations that you were oppressing him financially. They cited an example of both of you in a restaurant where you made it obvious to everyone present that you were the one paying for what the two of you had eaten?

Princess: They were there abi? People can say anything. It doesn't matter. The truth is the truth. I did not discuss my marriage breakup with anybody except what I just told you. I am a celebrity, the other person is not a celebrity, so what do you expect? Any person can just sit down and start writing what you just told me without even knowing me. If Kanye West was dating a non celebrity and not Kim Kardashian, they will say the same thing. So if I wanted to make the reason public, I would have made it myself. But it is not necessary, marriage is between a couple. We did not take our marriage vow on the street. We took it before God. Me, I am not afraid of man. I am also afraid of God. Anything that happened between God and a couple is sacred. There is no need itemizing the reasons. What is that going to do? Is it going to make the other party happy? Is it going to make us happy? So it is between the person (husband), I and God.

Really I dont owe anybody the reason why my marriage broke up but they can sit down and start drawing up reasons for themselves. That is their problem. They have God to answer to. The most authentic news is the one you get from the source. I didn't want people to be speculating because I was already hearing many rumors, bla bla bla, even when we were still together trying to make it work. They kept on writing what they were not sure of. I remember there were times he would ping to say he see what they wrote again.

The press, particularly the so-called bloggers, many of whom are not credible kept on writing things that were not happening at all. That is why I said now that the marriage has crashed, I hope they are now happy. 

I know few press men who are true to their professional ethics would not be happy with it (breakup) but the other ones that are not true to their professional ethics are the ones writing things that do not exist. But they are not God and cannot be more than God.

Latest victims of religious attacks in CAR!

These two Muslim children were reportedly killed on the route north to Chad.

"Fresh directive stresses minister’s power in oil asset sale by firms"!

The minister of Petroleum Resources will henceforth have a say in all divestments of assets in the upstream sector of the nation’s oil and gas industry by any operator.

Consequently, any divestments in the sector must comply strictly with the extant provisions of the law which require the prior consent of the minister before the assignment of any right, power or interest in a prospecting licence or oil mining lease.

Industry watchers say this move seems aimed at putting a halt to situations such as the one that has led to a face-off between Chevron Nigeria limited and Brittania –U, an indigenous oil company, over a bid for Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs) 52,53, and 55 that has now become a subject of litigation.

The directive requiring the minister’s consent in such deals was contained in a letter with reference number P1/160/Avol/.10, dated December 20, 2013 signed by George Osahon, director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and sent to all oil companies operating in the upstream sector.

The letter further stated that companies should note that under the paragraphs 14,15, and 16 of the first schedule of the Petroleum Act, the minister reserves the right to impose a fee or a premium, or both, before granting consent.

It further drew the attention of operators to the fact that the consent of the minister may only be granted where the minister is satisfied that-

”The proposed assignee is of good reputation, or is a member of a group of companies of good reputation, or is owned by a company or companies of good reputation;

“There is likely to be available to the proposed assignees, sufficient technical knowledge, experience and financial resources to work the license or lease which is being assigned; and

“The proposed assignee is in all other respects acceptable to the Federal Government.

“To comply with the above provisions, companies divesting their assets are required to subject all the pre-qualified participants in any such exercise to prior evaluation and due diligence by government, through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)”.

The letter stated that the government evaluation exercise would seek to establish the technical competence and financial capability of the pre –qualified companies, and that such companies are not otherwise unacceptable to government, in accordance with the provision of the Petroleum Act.

The DPR director said that government has expressed concern over the manner in which companies in the upstream sector are going about divesting their interests, especially in the various Joint Venture(JV) arrangements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The letter stated that government’s concerns stem from the following, that “The divestments are being carried out in a way that is contrary to the provision of the Petroleum Act 1969 ( as amended), which requires that prior consent of the minister of Petroleum Resources is obtained before the assignment of any right, power or interest in an oil prospecting license or oil mining lease”.

Failing to obtain the prior consent of the minister before consummation of any deal, as required by law, would mean that the divesting parties have flagrantly contravened the provisions of the Petroleum Act.

The letter further stated that “In virtually every case, the divesting parties apply to the minister for consent, after the transaction has been consummated, thereby presenting government with a fait accompli”.

This approach, it claimed, puts undue pressure on the minister and the Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) machinery, making it more difficult to carry out the required due diligence.

But reacting to this development, Emi Membere-Otaji, managing director of Elshcon Nigeria Limited, said that since these oil fields are going concerns, it makes sense that full disclosure and acceptance of the new buyers be gotten, but that too much bureaucracy should not be part of the baggage.

He stated further that the oil majors and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are joint venture partners in oil blocs.

“While the oil majors are operators, the NNPC is a senior partner. Therefore it is only expected that the oil majors need to liaise with the government, through the NNPC, by following all business protocols, if and when they are divesting.

Speaking in the same vein, Seye Fadahunsi, executive director, Pillar Oil, said the steps taken by the government were reasonable, as the role of the government is critical to business transactions in the industry.

With this development, the power of the minister of petroleum resources is further strengthened over the control of activities in the industry.

One of the reasons that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has run into trouble, is the sweeping powers given the petroleum minister in the bill.

Some said government must have come out with this policy because of the current face-off between Chevron and Brittania- U, over the assets that Chevron put on offer, in which Brittania –U was adjudged to have offered the highest bid but has not been given the asset.

Nigerian oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, had put on offer the three oil blocs for which Brittania –U one of the participating companies offered to pay about $1.6 billion for 40 per cent of the assets put on offer.

But when Chevron refused to communicate to the company, after it was alleged that Chevron had acknowledged that Brittania-U was the highest bidder in the deal, the company decided to head to Federal High Court and obtained a court injunction against Chevron and others, in respect of the divestment.

The injunction was not only against Chevron, but was also against Seplat Development Corporation, Chevron USA Inc, BNP Paris Security, and one Hemant Petal, all of which are involved in the transaction of the assets Oil Mining Lease OMLs 52, 53, and 55.

By: Olusola Bello 

EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION IN PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S ADMINISTRATION!

A course mate during my College days in Unilag posted this on my Page.


The Post below:

"NNPC had failed to remit the money, which was said to be the proceeds of crude sales between January 2012 and July 2013.

The said amount was said to have represented 76 per cent of the value of crude oil lifting during the period, in which the NNPC was said to have remitted $15.5bn, representing a paltry 24 per cent of the total value of $65.3bn.

The missing $49.8bn (N8.5tn) or equivalent of two years of the national budget, there is no evidence that this amount was paid into the Federation Account or duly appropriated.

There is fear that the recent decline of state revenues is not unconnected with the financial diversion.

This action is a clear breach of the provision of Section 11, Part II of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which “requires the Federal Government to hold consultations with states before the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework is laid before the National Assembly,” consultation with states on the MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper (2014-2016) did not hold.

Regrettably the National Economic Council meeting, where issues of this nature would have been discussed last held four months ago.

The financial irregularities relating to public accounting, the lack of compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, is not unconnected with the refusal of the Federal Government to convene meetings of statutory institutions created in the constitution, such as the National Economic Council and the Council of State.

Apart from this, Nigeria’s Foreign Reserve has depleted by 5.8 Billion Dollars, coupled with the disappearance of another 5 Billion Dollars from Excess Crude Account. Yet we are not talking of other kinds of stealing and mismanagement that are connected to the annual budget and the Sovereign Wealth Fund, a fund that was unilaterally created by this administration.

Corruption is endemic in this administration". 

By:  Great Imo Jonathan

Fire scare at UBA House Marina!

There was a  mild commotion as a result of fire scare at the ever busy UBA building on Marina street - Lagos Island.

UBA building occupants being evacuated from the building earlier today

According to one of the evacuated occupants who spoke with Roving Informant, the drama started at about 1pm on Friday, when some staff working on the 8th floor of the gigantic building perceived smoke, immediately the fire alarm went on, and all the lights in the building went off. 



The management swung into action immediately, evacuating all occupants of the building in order to ascertain the cause. 



The drama was however short lived as the building management team was able to detect the cause of the alarm, which it says resulted from some electrical fault.

The situation was later brought under control and the evacuated occupants were allowed back into the building but the lights was reportedly still out, as at the time of filling this report.