A frontline civil society group with a pro-transparency tendency-Human Rights Writers association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has demanded an independent probe of the allegation of missing crude fund from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] estimated at over $10 billion USD.
It blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] for the persistent pessimism and cynicism among the Nigerian populace regarding the lack of transparency and accountability in the administration of public fund by the NNPC.
HURIWA said the failure of the petroleum corporation to abide by the tenets of the freedom of Information Act of 2011 and the persistent refusal by the hierarchy of NNPC to open up its books for scrutiny by credible civil society groups is solely responsible for the doubts created in the minds of most Nigerians regarding the sincerity in the claims of accountability by the NNPC. The Rights group recalled vividly that the current Group Managing Director Mr. Andrew Yakubu was quoted in the media to have recently rebuffed several requests sent to the corporation by several civil society groups under the extant Freedom of Information Act of 2011 demanding accounting records of the operations of the NNPC in the past few years.
In a statement jointly authorized by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Director of Media Affairs, Miss. Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA tasked the Presidency to direct the hierarchy of NNPC and the federal ministry of petroleum to subject its account books to independent scrutiny by internationally reputable auditing firms to be closely monitored by the Independent Corrupt Practices and allied offences commission [ICPC] and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission[EFCC] after which the findings of these independent accounting and auditing monitors would be transparently published for the benefit of Nigerians to assess the level and scope of accountability and transparency of the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation.
“NNPC cannot be the prosecutor and judge at the same time in a case that involves questions around issues of lack of accountability and transparency in the use of public fund generated from the export of Nigeria’s rich crude oil resources as it is stated in a Latin phrase that ‘nemo judex non causi sua’. The Nigerian state must compel NNPC officials to stop playing on peoples intelligence but should rather do the needful by inviting competent and professional reputable international firms of accountants and auditors who would be allowed the unfettered access to the accounting books of NNPC for the purposes of conducting independent forensic auditing and come out with verifiable, credible and trust worthy reports”, HURIWA, affirmed.
HURIWA maintains that so long as the NNPC and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum runs the current opaque financial transactional modules, Nigerians will not come to terms with any of the claims of accountability and transparency from the hierarchy of the NNPC even as the group stated that it is imperative that the Federal Government shows the political will to compel the management of the petroleum sector to live above board and strangulate corruption that has eroded the confidence and trust of Nigerians on NNPC.
NNPC had through a statement by the General Manager[media] Dr.Omar Farouk Ibrahim claimed that the alleged $10.8billion USD missing fund from the coffers of NNPC was after all not missing but that these funds were used to settle some operational activities undertaken by the NNPC.
But HURIWA said the NNPC is playing a choreographed hide-and-seek game and has so far failed the test of credibility even as the Rights group insisted that only an independent forensic auditing of all the monies generated by the NNPC over the past 14 years since the emergence of civil rule can assuage the bottled up impressions in the minds of Nigerians that the corporation is a big cesspool of corruption and economic crimes.
