New information recently made available to 247ureports.com through a principal source close to the affairs of the presidency indicates that the debacle of oil subsidy removal by the federal government of Nigeria may have untold and potentially disturbing intricacies that resulted to the new year’s day abrupt increase in petrol price from N65 per liter to N141 per liter by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan. According to the source, the intricacies points directly to the uncanny grip of the Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke, on the affairs of the executive arm of the federal government of Nigeria via her ‘sedation of the President’.
As gathered, the activities at the Presidency prior to the said removal of the fuel subsidy or the abrupt hike in petrol price, the President of the federal republic of Nigeria was reported to be in the dark regarding the details of the subsidy regime. The source notes that the President, following the coming of Diezani Alison Madueke as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, had turned over virtually the entire management of the administration and policy implementation regime to the Petroleum Resources Minister. The Petroleum Resources Minister who shares a long personal history with the President dating to the days when the President served as a Commissioner in Bayelsa State – was said to have piloted and supervised the quantum leap in fuel subsidy claims from N245billion to N1.8trillion submitted by marketers during a period which coincided with the fund raising phase of Jonathan 2011 presidential campaign. The Petroleum Resources Minister was also reported to have piloted the fuel subsidy removal project. The source adds the President “followed her lead” in all issues concerning fuel subsidy claims, payment and removal without questions.
The elbow room given to the petroleum minister in turn emboldened her into the formation of a tightly knitted cabal within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC]. The cabal headed by the General Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Augustine O. Oniwon administered for the Petroleum Minister many “shady” deals within Nigerian oil sector. The NNPC boss has managed to execute “significant number of deals” together with the Petroleum Minister – so much so that he has become “too difficult” to replace or remove from his current position “because he knows too much”. The source explains that the NNPC boss has employed the services of several Harvard trained Nigerian administrators who have returned to Nigeria to work with Oniwon to ensure the books are “in order” against the ongoing audit/inquiry. It is understood that Oniwon holds the key to unlocking the myriad of corrupt practices at the Petroleum Ministry. And interestingly, the President is said to aware.
But the President’s arms mysteriously appear tied towards sanitizing the NNPC and the shady practices at the Petroleum Ministry. Sources within the NNPC point to the long history between the President and the Petroleum Minister as the reason for the President’s inactions while even more credible source within Aso Rock who personally meets with the president twice a week, point to “diabolic forces” as responsible for the president’s inability to act amidst glaring and embarrassing evidence of financial impropriety. The source disclosed that the President as result appears “overwhelmed” and may have begun to crack. “He sometimes talks to himself now” said the source who also added that “once he called Sambo’s name and was talking to him but Sambo was not there”. The source pointed to the President’s recent reduction in body weight as indicative of symptoms of stress induced exhaustion.
The President’s wife, Mrs. Patience Jonathan is reportedly uneasy with the unfolding development. But our source notes that the 1st lady also appears handicapped largely because of the Petroleum Minister’s overwhelming access to financial resources – which the 1st lady is reported to not have access to. The 1st lady has made many lost efforts at impressing on her husband to consider “clipping the wings” of the Petroleum Minister – instead the President appear to hand more responsibilities to the Petroleum Minister.
This is as the Petroleum Minister could not state to the House of Representative Committee investigating the oil subsidy funds management –the amount of petrol produced out of the various Nigerian refineries – nor could she state the amount of petrol ‘actually’ consumed locally in Nigeria.
With the Petroleum Minister not knowing the petrol volumes of what Nigeria pays subsidy on [for the petrol refined in Nigeria refineries and those imported for local usage] – in tandem with the fact that the Petroleum Ministry deducts her monies for oil subsidy payment before Nigeria’s oil revenue is paid into the federation accounts – begs the question why the President retains the Petroleum Minister – and perhaps why the Petroleum Minister holds the President hostage?
