The
Federal Government on Tuesday gave the Petroleum Special Task force 60
working days within which to probe and clean up the oil industry.
The task force is headed by the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, who handed the deadline at the inauguration of
the task force in Abuja, said several attempts to reform the oil and gas
industry had failed because of vested interests.
Alison-Madueke said the time had come to
break entrenched interests in the oil and gas sector in order to
restore confidence in government and eschew cynicism.
The minister said the task force was
established to enhance probity and accountability in the operations of
the petroleum industry.
The 21-member task force was constituted
to probe and collect revenues accruable to the country from both the
upstream and downstream segments of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
In an apparent move to ensure legitimacy, the membership of the task force was drawn from several segments of the society.
At the inauguration, Ribadu, who flew
the presidential flag of the Action Congress of Nigeria in the 2011
elections, described the job of the task force as an important national
assignment.
According to him, a transparent oil
industry will deliver value to all stakeholders, including Nigeria and
the international oil companies.
“Those who play by the rule will enjoy
the support of all while those who don’t should get the red card. We are
coming with open mind for this assignment,” he said.
Ribadu urged anybody in possession of documents that would assist the task force to come up with such documents.
The Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force is charged, among others, with the following terms of reference:
• To work with consultants and experts
to determine and verify all petroleum upstream and downstream revenues
(taxes, royalties, etc.) due and payable to the Federal Government of
Nigeria;
• To take all necessary steps to collect
all debts due and owing; to obtain agreements and enforce payment terms
by all oil industry operators;
• To design a cross debt matrix between all agencies and parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources;
• To develop an automated platform to
enable effective tracking, monitoring, and online validation of income
and debt drivers of all parastatals and agencies in the Federal Ministry
of Petroleum Resources; and,
• To submit monthly reports for ministerial review and further action.”
Members of the task force include former
Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsaye, who would serve
as deputy chairman; Director of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Mallam Abba
Kyari; and legal luminary, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN.
Others are Ms. Benedicta Molokwu, Mr.
Supo Sasore, SAN ; Mr. Tony Idigbe, SAN; Mr. Anthony
George-Ikoli, SAN; Dr. Omolara Akanji; Mr. Ituah Ighodalo; Mr. Bon
Otti; Prof. Olusegun Okunnu; Mallam Samaila Zubairu; Mr.Ignatius
Adegunle; and Mr. Gerald Ilukwe.
PUNCH NEWSPAPER
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