Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke
asked who buys a private jet for $10million after
she was accused of buying one for that amount
while in office.
"Who buys a private jet for
$10million for goodness sake?". Mrs Madueke
said while responding to questions bordering on
the Petroleum Industry Bill asked by newsmen
in Abuja today April 22nd. She also said she
stepped on big toes with the reforms she
brought but never committed any crime. What
she said below...
" In that bill are all the reforms needed to
tear NNPC apart, make it a National Oil
company, an equity share company
through transparency, accountability &
responsibility and reduce corruption in
the industry. We did all theses and we
put them in place to reduce corruption,
so for me to be tagged with various tags
of corruption, $10 million jet purchases,
who buys jet for $10 million dollars for
goodness sake?
And $20 billion missing money for which
PWC had done a report and the $1.48
billion which is not missing, which is
actually money transferred by the NNPC
to NPDC which is a subsidiary and NPDC
has actually started making payments
under my directives. I have said during
our time that there are gaps in the NNPC
and I said that openly. But I can also
say that at no time in Nigerian history in
the oil and gas has the NNPC been as
open and audited as it is today. It has
been positioned to go forward in the
industry. It is true that the revenue
profile is not sustainable. But we have
done our best and the Nigerian oil and
gas sector is today in a better shape than
it has ever been in terms of
achievements that we have recorded. So
let me state it clearly for the records
that Nigeria is my country and I am not
going anywhere. I love my country and I
do think that I have done the best for my
country and I would also like to point
these malicious, malevolence, vindictive
libels need to stop. We have done
enough for this industry, we cannot
please everybody. Yes, we have stepped
on toes but we did that in the best
interest of Nigeria and we have opened
up the oil and gas industry to all
Nigerians, thousands of Nigerians have
benefited from our reforms in the
system.”she said
She also said that her visit to former Military
Head of state was not in anyway to seek for
any soft landing because she is on her way out
of office. She said in her bid to open up the oil
and gas industry for more Nigerians to be
involved, she stepped on many toes, particularly
toes of the big cabals in the oil and gas industry
"I have not sought such assistance
because I am not aware that I have been
indicted of any crime that I will need a
soft landing. Over the last four years, I
have been severally and unfortunately
accused and labelled in so many
malicious and vindictive ways. I have
explained these things and pushed back
robustly on these accusations and I have
even gone to court on many of them. Yet
they keep being regurgitated. I think it is
unfortunate, particularly when we are
moving into a transition period and
looking forward to an incoming
government which is coming to take
over where we have ended. For
everything that has a beginning there is
an end and that is not a surprise. What is
the surprise is the sort of malevolence
bothering on personal malicious libel to
my person during this period of time. I do
believe that I have done the best for
Nigeria in this job and I have attained
many firsts in the history of oil and gas
especially in the reforms that we have
done. In this period of time, I have
stepped on many big toes, particularly
the toes of the cabals that were in the
industry when we came in. I have said
severally that we will open up the
industry to all Nigerians, and we have,
but that is not to the pleasure of certain
cabals. And I have been continuously
maligned because of this. We have taken
millions and in fact billions of dollars out
of the hands of multinationals and their
subcontractors and put them in the
hands of Nigerians through the Nigerian
Content. Hundreds of thousands of
Nigerians have come into the oil and gas
industry because of our reforms. Quite
frankly, I think as unprecedented as it is,
it does not please everybody and that
cannot be helped but let us remember
the unprecedented reforms that have
happened in the oil industry during our
time, such as major gas reforms, the
Petroleum Industry Bill, which has been
completely revised, reformed and put into
the hands of members of the National
Assembly where it has languished for two
years.”she said
MeenatNigeria
