President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to lay hands on the report of the House of Representatives fuel subsidy probe, Special adviser to President Jonathan on political affairs Alhaji Ali Gullak, who gave the hint while speaking to State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, said contrary to reports that the president has refused to act on the report, he was yet to get any report from the lawmakers.
He added that it was wrong for prominent Nigerians to ask the citizens to embark on civil unrest should the president fail to implement the content of the report. “President Jonathan is one person that wants things done and done correctly. “He is the only president in the history of this country that has embarked on the cleansing of the oil and gas sector.
He is the only president that has embarked on fighting corruption in the sector, and, for anybody to say that Mr. President is sitting on any report is unfair and a calculated attempt to tarnish the good name of the president,” he noted.
Gullak further stated that the fact that President Jonathan is determined to fight corruption in the system is indisputable and what Nigerians are expected to do is give him the necessary support to achieve this important assignment.
He said, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been given the mandate to go into the matter and you will also recall that, not too long ago, Mr. President approved the appointment of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, former EFCC chairman, to help sanitise the oil and gas sector. The president is determined to do more if he is given the necessary support by Nigerians.”
Urging the House ad-hoc committee probing the subsidy to get to the root of the subsidy regime in order to give the probe a measure of credibility, the presidential aide said that, as it is now, “it looks like the probe is targeted at some individuals.”
Gullak added: “Why did they not invite Rilwanu Lukman? He was the minister of petroleum resources during the period of the probe? Where is Mohammed Barkindo who was the group managing director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at the time? Where are the other key actors who were at the vanguard of the subsidy regime? The House of Representatives must probe these individuals before we can truly say they are doing the right thing, otherwise the report will lack credibility. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
“Yes, money has been stolen in NNPC and we have to get to the root but, in doing that, we must go back to when it all started.
At what point did things go bad? Mr. President is even the one that is saying no more stealing with the subsidy regime and that it must stop.
How can he then turn around and sit on something that will help him sanitise the sector? People should not allow themselves to be used to promote the political agenda of some selfish individuals.”
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Source: Leadership
