Disagreements mar Ribadu panel report submission

In a swift move after Ribadu had summarised content of the report to President Goodluck Jonathan, Oronsaye who is deputy chairman of the task force, said the process of the panel work that led to drafting of the report was faulty.   He said “I did not start with the committee until much later because […]

In a swift move after Ribadu had summarised content of the report to President Goodluck Jonathan, Oronsaye who is deputy chairman of the task force, said the process of the panel work that led to drafting of the report was faulty.

 

He said “I did not start with the committee until much later because I was busy in some other assignments, but when I joined, I made certain observations. But I want to make a general statement. No matter how elegant a house may be, if the foundation is faulty, it will collapse. In the same vein, if a process is flawed, the outcome of the process will not be sustained.

“When Mr. President gave the directive that the report be submitted today, we should be man enough to say, it is not feasible. When I came in, I asked the secretary, where is the signature page? He said the chairman is to sign for all of us. I said certainly, I have not authorized anybody to sign on my behalf.

“I don’t know what the report contains. Therefore, in my view, I do not think the report should be accepted at this time, I challenge any member of this committee to contradict what I have said right now.”

Oronsaye at some point flared, saying “so what if the Ppresident asked for the report, we could tell him that we were not ready” the council chamber got tensed at this outburst.

Another member of the panel, Mr. Bon Oti supported Oronsaye, saying the task force did not follow appropriate system in reaching its conclusions.

But Ribadu said Oronsaye was an ‘absentee’ member of the panel and he never attended meetings or contributed to committee work.

The former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman told the President that Oronsaye only appeared at the tail end of the committee’s assignment demanding changes to the report.

Ribadu said “Steve Oronsaye never participated even one day in the deliberations of this committee. Not even for a single day. He never. The first time we saw Steve was at the end of work when we were asking about recovery from companies that he jumped in. All the members are here, they can bear witness to all I am saying.

“Second, Mr. President, it is your government, it is your work and whatever it is it’s you and nobody else. This recommendation is for you to use. You thought it wise to call people from outside to come into the industry and look at it critically and give you an honest opinion. During the work of the committee, Oronsaye got himself appointed on the board of the NNPC. The other gentleman who spoke, Oti became the Director of Finance of the NNPC and they decided to more or less bully everybody to take over. And they wanted us to write for them, but committee members refused.

“By the time they were appointed, the honourable thing they would have done was to resign from the committee. They refused to resign. Steve has not been in the country, he flew in this morning. For him to come and do this, I think our President deserves more respect than what you have done now.”

Two other members of the panel also contradicted Oronsaye and Oti, saying the duo refused to contribute to the report when members were requested to do so.

“It is unfortunate that this matter came up here. We agreed that whatever is unresolved can be resolved later and we said so in the report. But it is unfortunate that this has happened,” a member said.

In his remark, President Jonathan advised the aggrieved members of the task to make formal presentations to his office which could form part of the report.

While accepting the report, Jonathan said “I advised that any member who has any observations should write it and send to me through the Chief of Staff or the minister.

“If there are errors of calculation from the institutions will be filtered out. You don’t need to quarrel about it. Government has no interest in hiding anything. The aim is not to investigate anybody in government. Becoming board members of the NNPC does not disqualify them to be members of the task force, sometimes you need those in establishment to explain certain things and not to influence anybody. I don’t believe anybody can influence Ribadu negatively.”

Speaking earlier during presentation of the report, Ribadu said “most of the recommendations are about management, about people and about how we run our own affairs. It probably may not have to do with the law. PIB or no PIB, some of these things right now can be implemented and even if the PIB comes, it will still be very important in getting the result.

“Increasing crude oil theft is a national tragedy and grave consequence and there is need for urgent government action. It is one of the main reasons why we are losing people who are interested in coming to do business in Nigeria. So many countries today are discovering crude oil even within our region. Ghana, Serria Leone, Liberia. Companies do have options. We have to work hard to make our place attractive for people to come and do business with us.

“The insecurity in the Niger Delta, the theft of crude oil, Nigeria is the only country in the world where people steal crude oil. Mr. President, it is embarrassing. You have done well already, you are doing it, but you probably have to continue with it, because you have to put a stop to it. We congratulate you on the steps you have taken.”

The task force also recommended a comprehensive framework for automation of the industry, for transparency and accountability.

He tasked the president to personally supervise the reform process, saying “I will like to see from your own office a way of direct implementation supervising those very lofty things that you have heard. It is worth it. You will see the result yourself sir.”