Subsidy Probe: House Hits Back at NNPC, Marketers

National Assembly Complex

The House of Representatives has dismissed the barrage of criticisms trailing the report of its Ad Hoc Committee on Monitoring Subsidy Regime as gimmicks by those who want a continuation of the corruption plaguing the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

This is on the heels of fears that the brandishing of a fake report theory by some of the major oil marketers was a deliberate action to discredit the work of the committee.

Chairman, House Commit-tee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Zakary Mohammed, Monday said both the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the group of 18 oil marketers who had criticised the subsidy report did so out of mischief and in a calculated attempt to thwart the outcome of the subsidy regime’s probe.

According to Mohammed, the attacks launched at the report were premeditated and premature because it had just been submitted and was yet to be considered and adopted by the whole House.

He described the purported move by some marketing firms to seek legal action as a deliberate attempt to scuttle the consideration of the report.

He said contrary to the impression being created by the marketers, the ad hoc committee gave all participants in the subsidy scheme equal opportunity to defend their actions during the investigative hearing.

“As the House of Representatives begin a clause-by-clause consideration of the report tomorrow (today), we urge all Nigerians to be vigilant and be wary of those who would rather that the country continue to be run in the usual corruption-laden way which put unmerited resources in individual pockets at the expense of the people.

“For the NNPC’s claims that the ad hoc committee’s report may have been altered to embarrass it (NNPC) is only in tandem with the current reckoning of its spokesman. The corporation must have been in possession of another version of the report for it to assert that the one officially laid before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 was altered

“Regarding the group of 18 marketers, who were deeply involved in the subsidy payouts, but declined to appear before the ad hoc committee, the purported recourse to legal action is, in our own opinion, an orchestrated plot to scuttle the findings of the committee. We hasten to ask: Were the focus to be on verification of payments for contract awards, would these same marketers and organisations have stayed away alleging non-invitation?” Mohamed asked.

The spokesman of the House said the organisations that chose to stay away from the probe did so because they had something to hide and should not turn around now to claim that they were excluded.

Meanwhile, we gathered that some of the major oil marketers who failed to influence the outcome of the report have infiltrated the public with a badly doctored report containing some funny oil companies different from what the committee had handed the House last Wednesday when it laid the report before it.

A source told us that: “It has come to the knowledge of the committee and indeed, the House leadership that there are spirited moves by some of the major oil marketers to discredit the work of the committee with a certain doctored report they are claiming was the original report that originated from the committee.

“This is part of their ploy to discredit the work of the committee. How can anyone brandish another report other than what we presented before the House last week? We have a fair idea of those behind this move and we have taken appropriate steps to fully engage them within the ambit of the law.

“These are people who have tried everything within their reach to influence the report of the committee. Some of them have even gone to town to say they had settled with Hon. Farouk Lawan and their case had been taken care of. But when the report came out and their names were on the list, they have deployed several moves to scuttle the process.

“More than anything else, we have been vindicated by Federal Government’s refusal to renew the contract with Akintola Williams & Co and Adekanola & Co - both auditing firms.
“So, anyone brandishing fake or doctored report should know the implication of his action because it is unconstitutional and illegal.”