By Gbemiga Olakunle
The recent outbreak of a multi-billion dollar scandal rocking the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is a grave allegation that leaves a sour taste in the mouth until it is proved to be false or just an hoax. The last 12 or 18 months have indeed been spectacular as in the outbreak of scandals in the life of an administration that was heralded to right the perceived wrongs of the immediate administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan and clean up the purported Augean stable that it left behind. Nigerians know very well that some leading figures in the present administration may not be saints either but their mouths are left wide open when scandals or alleged misdeeds of some high-ranking officials in this government begin to leak into the public domain and the way the government is treating such matters as if they are not of public interests.
Out of the plethora of leaked scandals so far, the only one that has been investigated and whose report has been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari is the one that involved the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) – Engr. Babachir Lawal of the infamous grass-cutting contract where more than N100m was spent and awarded to a company in which the suspended SGF allegedly has some interests.
The whopping sum was not spent on feeding or catering for the nutritional needs or the Medicare of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by the committee under the direct supervision of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Rather, the money was allegedly spent on a phony or spurious grass cutting contract at a time when the IDPs were dying of malnutrition and under-nutrition in addition to outbreaks of some preventable diseases.
And up till now, after receiving the report of the high- powered panel led by the Vice – President Yemi Osinbajo that investigated the suspected SGF, Mr. President is yet to take a firm decision on the report – whether the man should be sent to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution if found guilty or be directed to resume his duties if he was found to be innocent of the charges against him.
The same goes for some outrageous sums of money in both local and foreign currencies that were uncovered by the EFCC in a luxury flat in Ikoyi, Lagos. That scandal became a bone of contention between the National Intelligence Agency(NIA) and the Rivers State Government when the officials of the two government organizations began to lay claim to the ownership of the uncovered funds. While the officials of the NIA claimed that the money was meant for their sting operations, Governor Wike of Rivers State pointed fingers in the direction of his predecessor – Rotimi Ameachi, as the person that kept part of the alleged embezzled Rivers State Government money in that flat before it was discovered by the EFCC. Incidentally, Mr. Rotimi Ameachi is the current Honourable Minister of Transportation and a leading figure in this administration.
The matter was however laid to rest when the President waded in and directed that the money should be returned into the Federal Government’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). We do not intend to do a catalogue of scandals or leaked alleged misdeeds of some leading figures of this government which are already in the public domain. It is our prayer that more of such scandals in and outside of the government circles should be unearthed so that the President can take his time to tackle holistically this glut of rottenness that has almost become the hallmark of our socio-economic and political system.
The latest of such scandals which is our concern in this write up is the alleged $25 billion contract scandal rocking the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). And Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the Vice President, almost roped his principal into the scandal when he went on social media to admit that the Vice – President, His Excellency Yemi Osinbajo did sign a purported $640 million oil contract in his capacity as the Acting President – a claim that his principal promptly denied when confronted by journalists during a ground – breaking ceremony of a road project in Rivers State. Only God knows what the Vice–Presidential aide was thinking or whose interest he wanted to serve by attempting to make his principal take full responsibility for what he claimed he knew nothing about.
And, this was at a time when the NNPC had already admitted that the contract papers were taken to Mr. President to sign while he was still recuperating in London. In one occasion, and in fairness to President Muhammadu Buhari, he was reported to have reprimanded some of his ministers who were in the habit of taking files and memos to him for his attention while on Medical leave. He was quoted as saying that he is operating one Presidency and that his Deputy who was occupying the Office of the President in an acting capacity was vested with powers to act and perform in that capacity.
In his leaked memo to the President, the Honourable Minister of State for the Petroleum Resources Ministry, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, complained of his being sidelined in the unilateral awards of contracts of about $25b (approximately about N9 trillion) and current changes in the organizational structure of the NNPC in his capacities as both the HMS, Petroleum Ministry and the Chairman of the NNPC Board. Some “insidious minds”, if I may borrow that word from Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, had thought that the heavens would be let loose at the outbreak of the scandal until the President called the two leading characters in the drama, held a closed-door meeting with them and reportedly counseled them to continue to maintain a harmonious working relationship.
In fact, after the meeting the Minister of State himself started to recant by saying that he was not accusing the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr. Baru, of corruption or fraud in the award of the contracts. According to the Minister, his grouse with the NNPC GMD is that due processes were not followed which he viewed as bad governance. And how about the vital appointments or re – organization that was carried out by the GMD, which many Nigerians complained of because of its obvious lopsidedness in favour of a particular section of the country to the exclusion of others?
Nobody knows whether Mr. President has answers to these issues or has already addressed them in his own way.
In an article entitled Because of Food written by Dan Agbese in his column on the back page of Blueprint newspaper of Friday October 13, 2017, he pointed out that about 10 million children out of about 171 million Nigerian population, which is about 13%, are malnourished .
Olakunle writes from Abuja.