A group, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL has written to the Board of Governors, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC; the letter which was signed by Debo Adeniran the Group executive chairman, was forwarded to OPEC through HE Abdalla S. El-Badri,the Secretary General, OPEC Helferstorferstrasse 17, A-1010, Vienna Austria.
In letter dated 3rd December, and titled: Demand for the Reversal of the Appointment of the Nigerian Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke As OPEC President CACOL said; “Our Coalition, with other well-meaning Nigerians woke up to the news of the emergence of the Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke as the President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Alison-Madueke was elected President on Thursday at the 166th ordinary meeting of the oil body in Vienna, Austria. To say the least, we are still finding it difficult to come to terms with the election of Mrs. Alison-Madueke to such enviable position that should be reserved mainly for individuals who have lived above board. Without wanting to sound alarmist, CACOL is sure that the OPEC must have been misled as the said Nigerian Minister is sitting atop a cesspit of corruption that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC has become.”
Speaking further, CACOL said; “For the avoidance of doubt, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has been accused of several allegations which include reckless abuse of office, wastage of the nation’s resources under the guise of performing her official functions, engagement in questionable deals, connivance with some oil and gas multinationals to rob Nigeria of large chunk of money, direct stealing of the nation’s money, and using her position to siphon the country’s earnings to foreign lands for personal interests.
“Since the appointment of the said oil minister, Nigeria has lost a minimum of $46bn through the aforementioned avenues. So much noise has been made from various quarters which even include that of the Nigerian House of Representatives, without any significant response whatsoever. An invitation from the hallowed chambers to the minister was flagrantly refused.”
According to CACOL it said; “More so, a 2011 KPMG forensic report on the NNPC uncovered monumental sleaze and corruption in almost all aspects of the petroleum sector. With revelations ranging from illegal deductions of state funds, to sharp business practices such as the violation of OPEC’s recommended oil quota, and failure to remit billions of naira to the state, everyone involved in the management of the nation’s oil wealth, including Mrs. Alison-Madueke, came off tainted. As if that was not enough, the Federal Government commissioned a Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force chaired by the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in 2012 to look into the activities of the NNPC chaired by the oil minister. This Task Force indicted Diezani of handing out at least three out of seven discretionary oil licenses that did not account for $183million in signature bonuses among other misdeeds.”
“The efforts of our Coalition geared towards making the one of the anti-graft agencies bring her to justice through a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC (a copy of the petition is attached for your reference) are yet to yield the desired result as she uses her influence to block all avenues that are capable of bringing her face-to-face with the law.
Against this backdrop, we are of the opinion that charity must begin at home and since Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has not been able to prove her mettle in Nigeria, handing over a greater responsibility that OPEC Presidency would bestow on her would be very disastrous, except the Board of Governors would want us to believe that OPEC condones the plummeting of national resources of member countries by their representatives. We hereby advise that she be removed because of myriads of questions bothering on corruption, graft and unjustifiable avarice that she is yet to address. Having the like of Diezani Alison-Madueke presiding on OPEC may spell doom for the integrity of the international body,” CACOL said.
