Civil Societies Organize to Protest Missing $20Bn

Chief Dino Melaye, former member of the House of Representatives and executive secretary, Anti Corruption Network, yesterday, said that 96 civil society organisations have indicated interest in the proposed protest against the alleged missing $20 billion belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Melaye at a press briefing in Abuja, asked the Federal Government to make public the name of the auditing firm engaged to conduct the forensic audit of the accounts of NNPC.

He said there was no way the government could conduct what he described as “clandestine and secret probe” of the NNPC.

According to him, releasing the name would enable the citizens undertake a study of the firm so as to be assured that “it is a reputable firm with capacity to creditably perform the task.”

According to him, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, should step down for a transparent exercise to be conducted, adding that the minister and the NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu, should be suspended like the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

“President Goodluck Jonathan, when you see a snake, kill it. You don’t need to set up a committee to find out if it is a lizard; just kill it. Never shall we keep quiet over issues that will determine the future of our children. This is about systematic corruption in our national treasury. We will prove that power truly belongs to the people and whether Nigerians want it or not, time for change is now,” Melaye said.

Melaye also demanded that the spokesperson for President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, should withdraw his alleged statement over the missing $20bn or the citizens would view the planned audit as “dead on arrival, a mirage and a  waste of time.”

He reminded police authorities that relevant court judgments had already ruled out securing of a police permit before any peaceful protest can be staged.

While faulting the claim by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that she was ignorant of subsidy deductions, he said that the ACN’s primary investigation revealed that NNPC and its subsidiaries were “colossus of corruption.”