Move on Nigeria, a civic action group promoting good governance and the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, has dismissed as non-issue the call by the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari for the president to publish the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) forensic audit report on the missing $20 billion.
Reacting to a statement credited to Garba Shehu, the group noted that Buhari could not morally speak of missing oil money as it was during his tenure as petroleum minister that $2.8 billion dollars of oil money was reportedly seized in a foreign country.
The group recalled also that, “still under Buhari’s watch, NNPC was never audited.’
Consequently, the group insisted that the APC presidential flag-bearer should give President Jonathan credit for daring to probe the NNPC. “PriceWaterHouse Cooper is a reputable firm. If $50 billion, $40 billion or $20 billion was missing, they would not have come out with a contrary report,” it stated.
Following the allegation made by the immediate-past Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), now Emir of Kano, of missing $50 billion from the NNPC account, the two chambers of the National Assembly waded into the matter and found the allegation to be false. However, President Jonathan in the spirit of probity and accountability later directed that the NNPC account be audited.
It was on this basis that the Auditor General of the Federation commissioned PriceWaterCoopers (PWC) accounting firm to conduct an independent forensic audit of the NNPC account.
The firm having concluded its investigations submitted its report to the Auditor General of the Federation, who presented the same to the president. Interestingly, the accounting firm found the allegation of missing $50 billion to be false.
The group stated: “If anyone or any office must be asked to publish the report, it is the Auditor General of the Federation, who commissioned the report in the first instance, not the president and definitely not the NNPC or Minister of Petroleum. It is either General Buhari is demonstrating crass ignorance, being mischievous or playing to the gallery. Otherwise, if he or his party desperately needs the audit report, he knows how to go about it, part of which is to apply under the FoI Act for a copy of the report from the Auditor General’s office. President Jonathan, as a huge contrast from the Decree 4 and Decree 2 enacted by Buhari as head of state, signed the FoI.
“The Decree 4 promoted official secrecy and forbade anyone from publishing any information that will embarrass a public officer even when the story is true and correct.”
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