Demand For Due Process Against The Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede-Led Oil Subsidy Committee, Access Bank & Coscharis Motors

The Chairman,

House Committee on Public Petitions

House of Representatives

National Assembly

Abuja.

DEMAND FOR DUE PROCESS, LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE AIGBOJE AIG-IMOUKHUEDE-LED  PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON OIL SUBSIDY, ACCESS BANK AND COSCHARIS MOTORS.

The National Leaders of Political Parties (NLPP) are most concerned that at a time when Nigerians are suffering from acute and perennial fuel scarcity, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, a Company that supplies about 35% of daily consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria has been shut down purportedly on the orders of a Federal High Court in Abuja at the behest of a Federal Government Agency, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

During the last Presidential Media chat, Mr. President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan assured Nigerians, amongst other things, that there will be regular and adequate supply of petroleum products at the filling stations and the fuel queue will be a thing of the past.  Contrary to his Presidential assurances, the fuel situation is worsened by the continuing closure of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited.

You will recall that on 1^st January 2012, Nigerians were shocked with an astronomical increase in the prices of petroleum products by the Federal Government which led to unprecedented mass protests nation-wide. It seems to us that this closure of a local major supplier of petroleum products is an attempt by the same Government to implement the same increase in the price of fuel through the back door. If this closure is not reversed, the fuel scarcity in the country will

exacerbate, quadruple and cause enormous hardship, suffering, inflation, economic stagnation and aggravation of other debilitating social and economic indicators in the country.

More importantly, the closure of Capital Oil will lead to the dismissal of over 5000 workers of the Company and their dependants, in an economy that is already volatile with over 50 million youths unemployed.

Whereas the youths ofNigeriaare expecting a marshal plan of aggressive job creation, the government that promised a transformative agenda, is implementing policies that are aggravating the unemployment situation in the country by sacking workers even in the private sector.

This House of Representatives have just declared that no place is safe in Nigeria anymore due to activities of terrorists; security formations such as the Military Cantonment at Jaji, Police Headquarters in Abuja, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), and numerous Police and Military formations across the country  have come under terrorists attacks. In addition, civilian targets such as United Nations Headquarters, places of worship, market places, schools and residential homes have all come under terrorist attacks.

We, the National Leaders of Political Parties, having visited the shut down facilities of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited in Apapa,Lagoswish to draw the attention of the National Assembly that the facilities are totally unsecured and unprotected. We observed the closed down facilities and were amazed that they were completely unsecured.

We noticed that the gates and fence at the water front were vandalized leaving the entire facilities open to pirates and other oil thieves. We also observed quite a number of oil drums scattered around clearly being used to pilfer petroleum products from the facilities.

Most of all, we fear that the unsecured facilities lent itself easy target to terrorists attack from the porous water front that will decapitate the entire Lagos and further cripple the economy of our country through acute, severe and draconic fuel shortage.

We are amazed that one person, Aigboje  Aig-Imoukhuede, the Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, a major player in the oil subsidy imbroglio, also an interested party in the debts related to Capital Oil and Gas Industries  Limited, happens to be the person appointed by the President to head the Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy. This is a glaring case of conflict of interest that an ordinary person would have expected the Government to know and avoid.

May we respectfully remind this House of Representatives that it has a responsibility to prevail on Mr. President to make public the full and original report of the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede led Presidential Committee on subsidy. In the same vein, we demand, on behalf of the long-suffering Masses of this country, that this House should also ensure that the Federal Ministry of Finance make full disclosure of all waivers granted to the oil marketers and the beneficiaries.  We also demand to know who are directly responsible for the disbursement of the subsidy payments to the oil marketers.  The Masses of this country has the right to know.

It is public knowledge that Access Bank granted an unsecured loan amounting to $164 Million to Dr. Cosmas Maduka / Coscharis Motors, who is also the Chairman of the Credit Committee of Access Bank Plc.

We recall that at the inception of the administration of the current Governor of the Central Bank ofNigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, all banks that were found to have engaged in insider-trading were sanctioned and the affected Directors of the banks were removed.  We therefore call upon this honourable House of Representatives to compel the Governor of Central Bank to immediately commence the process leading to the investigation and sanctioning of Access Bank Plc and the above named Directors of the bank who have clearly contravened the extant laws.

Wonders, they say, may never end. It has come to our knowledge that one MAN, Barrister Kemi Balogun, who is the Attorney of Access Bank Plc in this debt debacle with Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, is also the counsel to Coscharis Motors, the primary borrower of the controversial loan. Now, we hear that the same MAN, Barrister Kemi Balogun is the counsel to the Federal Government Agency, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) seeking to take over Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited. This is exactly the same manner in which Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede led Access Bank Plc took over Intercontinental Bank Plc.

We also note that it has been alleged that Dr. Cosmas  Maduka has a track record dating back to 1984, of unethical practices of borrowing without collateral which contributed to the collapse of Morgan Savings and Loan Limited and Guardian Express Bank. If these allegations are true, we fear that his continuing involvement in the affairs of Access Bank Plc places the bank in grave danger. In the light of the foregoing, we demand that the National Assembly should carry out an exhaustive investigation of the insider-trading activities of the aforementioned bank and its functionaries in order to safeguard the depositors’ funds in Access Bank Plc.

Finally, we urge this House of Representatives to pass the necessary resolutions to forbid the aforementioned persons from holding public offices in the financial sector inNigeria.

Presented by sixteen Political Parties-:

1. National Conscience Party
2. Justice Party
3. People Progressive Party
4. African Renaissance Party
5. All Progressives GrandAlliance
6. Nigerian Advance Party
7. Democratic PeoplesAlliance
8. National Movement of Progressive Party
9. People for Democratic Change
10. BetterNigeriaProgressive Party
11. People Salvation Party
12. New Democratic Party
13. APSF
14. CPP
15. MPP
16. PDC