I won’t go on exile – Diezani

She spoke with reporters at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday. When Mrs Madueke travelled abroad shortly after General Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner of the presidential election, the social media went viral with reports that she had gone in search of asylum.It was also rumored that six countries had turned down her request for the […]

She spoke with reporters at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday. When Mrs Madueke travelled abroad shortly after General Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner of the presidential election, the social media went viral with reports that she had gone in search of asylum.
It was also rumored that six countries had turned down her request for the said asylum.
“Let me state it clearly for the records that Nigeria is my country and I’m not going anywhere,” she told reporters.
She said she had done her best for Nigeria and demanded that those “malicious malevolence, vindictive libels coming out of … faceless online media and other entities need to stop.”
She also denied seeking the help of former Head of State, retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar to help stop a probe of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the incoming administration.
The minister said she did not commit any crime to warrant seeking a soft landing.
Diezani said she had met with many elder statesmen in the course of her duties, and was surprised that her interaction with General Abdulsalami was singled out.
“I believe that His Excellency (Abdulsalami) has already answered that and called it unnecessary mischief.
“I’ve not sought such assistance because I’m not aware that I’ve been indicted of any crime that I’ll need a soft landing”, she said.
“I’ll ask that the media do its research properly and deal with the facts.” The minister lamented that after dispelling several “malicious and vindictive” accusations against her in the past four years, they kept “being regurgitated”.
“And I think it’s unfortunate, particularly when we’re moving into a transition period and looking forward to an incoming government.
“For everything that has a beginning, there is an end. That’s not a surprise. What’s the surprise is the sort of malevolence bordering on personal malicious libel to my person during this period of time”, she said.
The minister revealed that the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) had started refunding the $1.48bn it owed the federation account.
Former Central Bank Governor and now emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, had alleged that about $48 billion was not remitted into the federation account by the NNPC and declared the money as unaccounted for.
The story caused considerable uproar in the country and President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the Minister of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation, the NNPC and the CBN to sit down and reconcile their accounts.
At the end the minister of Finance announced that $10 billion were yet to be accounted for, but the CBN said the amount was $20 billion.
The government commissioned Price Water House Coopers to carry out a forensic audit of the NNPC account. Part of its recommendations made public early in the year, was that NNPC should pay $1.8 billion to the Joint Federation Account.
Speaking on the matter yesterday, the Petroleum Minister said the Price Water House Coopers forensic audit “felt the right process would be that NPDC will refund that money to the federation account. NPDC has apparently started those refunds and it is also in discussion with the NNPC and the DPR on same. So, the refund has actually begun”.
She said she had openly admitted that there were “gaps” in the NNPC, claiming, however, that there was no time in Nigeria’s history that the NNPC was being as open and audited as it was today.
Mrs Alison Madueke said while it was true that the revenue profile of the oil and gas sector was not sustainable, the incumbent administration had done its best to make it better.
The Petroleum Minister said in the interest of Nigerians, she had stepped on toes of many cabals in the sector after the government opened up the industry to all Nigerians.
“Thousands of Nigerians have benefited from our reforms in the system…I’ve stepped on many big feet particularly the feet of the cabals that were in the industry when we came in.
“And I’ve been continuously maligned because of this and we’ve taken millions and in fact billions of dollars out of the hands of many multinationals and their sub-contractors and put them in the hands of Nigerians through Nigerian content.
“Quite frankly, as unprecedented as it is, it doesn’t please everybody and that cannot be helped.
“But let’s remember the unprecedented reforms that have happened in the oil industry during our time such as major gas reforms, the Petroleum Industry Bill.
“We did all theses and we put them in place to reduce corruption. So, for me, to be tagged with various tags of corruption, $10 million jet purchase, who buys jet for $10m for goodness sake?
“And $20bn missing money for which PWC had done a report and the $1.48bn which is not missing, which is actually money transferred by the NNPC to NPDC which is a subsidiary and NPDC has actually started making payments under my directives”, she said.