The face-off in oil sector,–By Rev David Ugolor

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, calls on the National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, pass the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, so as to nip in the bud further confusion generated by the rift between the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, over allegations of inappropriateness in the allocation and award of contracts in the oil sector.
We applaud the Senate for moving quickly to unravel allegations of inappropriateness levelled by the Minister of State. The response of the President concerning the allegations of disregard for due process in the award of contracts by the NNPC GM, would define the perception of the reforms which have been going on in the oil sector.
We suggest that the President invites the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI, to carry out a comprehensive and forensic audit of the allegations. Among statutory functions of NEITI include the regulation of matters related to due process in the award of contracts in the extractive sector of the Nigerian sector. The inconsistencies being thrown up by the startling revelations from the minister of state include some of the issues which the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill seeks to address and redress.
The present administration since inception has defined itself first through its corruption stance, and more by the reforms it has introduced in the oil sector. It scrapped the opaque oil swap which made it possible for individuals within government to line their pockets with millions of dollars and has replaced it with the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase scheme.
That lofty plan of Direct Sale, Direct Purchase stands in jeopardy if all the contracts that have been awarded and the companies they have been awarded are not subject to thorough vetting and investigations by both the Senate and the NEITI.

Rev David Ugolor,
ANEEJ, Benin City

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