THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged President Goodluck
Jonathan to urgently speak out and take action on the monumental Malabu
oil scandal that is rocking his administration and again putting
Nigeria under the global searchlight as a corrupt nation.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said President Jonathan must
end his silence on the matter since half of the 1.1 billion U.S dollars
paid to Malabu Oil and Gas for oil field OPL 245 by two oil majors was
allegedly used to bribe Nigerian officials, who in turn used the
proceeds to buy private jets and armoured limousines.
It said that since the deal to pay Malabu the huge funds was
brokered and passionately defended by the Jonathan administration, it
stands to reason that officials of the same administration will know one
or two things, and perhaps are part of the whole scandal.
“The only way to know for sure is if there is an independent
investigation of the allegation, which has been published by the
international media after Italian prosecutors intensified their probe
into the deal. This is where President Jonathan comes in: He must allow
an unfettered probe of this scandal that has again put Nigeria in bad
light. Whatever happens, however, the names of those who received the
bribes will soon be known, thanks to the determination of the UK and
Italy to show that no one who violates their laws will go scot-free.
“Just like the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandals that were
also exposed from abroad, this Malabu scandal has again damaged
Nigeria’s standing in the comity of nations. While U.S, France, Italy
and Germany have jailed officials and imposed fines on the foreign firms
that gave bribes to Nigerian officials in the Halliburton and Siemens
scandals, none of those who received the bribes here in Nigeria has been
touched. The Malabu scandal must not go the same way,” APC said.
The party said Nigeria has never had it as bad, in terms of
corruption that has cost the nation billions of dollars in money that
would have gone into national development, as it is having under the
Jonathan administration.
“There is no better way to say this. The Jonathan administration
is swimming in corruption and the President has allowed it to fester. He
has even tried to use semantics to cover up the extent of sleaze,
saying stealing is not corruption,” it said.
APC said apart from the Malabu, Halliburton and Siemens scandals,
the Jonathan administration has done nothing to tell Nigerians what
happened to the $20 billion in diverted oil money; the multi-billion
naira fuel subsidy fraud for which no single persons has been brought to
justice; opaque crude oil swaps at the expense of encouraging domestic
refinery; payment of billions of naira in kerosene subsidy without
appropriation and the gargantuan police pension fraud.
“Under your watch, Mr. President, there is massive looting of the
commonwealth by the same people being paid by taxpayers to ensure a
judicious utilization of the scarce national resources. There is a
growing culture of impunity because no one is punished for the looting.
Now you have another chance to turn things around for the better.
“The Malabu scandal provides such a chance. All those who
collected millions of dollars in bribes in the illegal transaction must
be identified and brought to justice immediately. We must not always
allow foreign countries to be the ones exposing corrupt Nigerian
officials. Our government must act like a responsible government
by demonstrating it will not allow violation of its laws or encourage
corruption,” the party said.
Monday, 13 October 2014
APC asks Jonathan to explain Nigeria’s role in Malabu oil deal
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