Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke asked who buys a private jet for $10million after she was accused of buying one for that amount while in office.
"Who buys a private jet for $10million for goodness sake?". Mrs Madueke said while responding to questions bordering on the Petroleum Industry Bill asked by newsmen in Abuja today April 22nd.
She also said she stepped on big toes with the reforms she brought but never committed any crime. What she said below...
"In
that bill are all the reforms needed to tear NNPC apart, make it a
National Oil company, an equity share company through transparency,
accountability & responsibility and reduce corruption in the industry.
We did all theses and we put them in place to reduce corruption, so for
me to be tagged with various tags of corruption, $10 million jet
purchases, who buys jet for $10 million dollars for goodness sake?
And
$20 billion missing money for which PWC had done a report and the $1.48
billion which is not missing, which is actually money transferred by the
NNPC to NPDC which is a subsidiary and NPDC has actually started making
payments under my directives. I have said during our time that there
are gaps in the NNPC and I said that openly. But I can also say that at
no time in Nigerian history in the oil and gas has the NNPC been as
open and audited as it is today.
It has been positioned to go forward in
the industry. It is true that the revenue profile is not sustainable.
But we have done our best and the Nigerian oil and gas sector is today
in a better shape than it has ever been in terms of achievements that we
have recorded. So let me state it clearly for the records that Nigeria
is my country and I am not going anywhere. I love my country and I do
think that I have done the best for my country and I would also like to
point these malicious, malevolence, vindictive libels need to stop.
We
have done enough for this industry, we cannot please everybody. Yes, we
have stepped on toes but we did that in the best interest of Nigeria and
we have opened up the oil and gas industry to all Nigerians, thousands
of Nigerians have benefited from our reforms in the system.”she said
She
also said that her visit to former Military Head of state was not in
anyway to seek for any soft landing because she is on her way out of office.
She said in her bid to open up the oil and gas industry for more
Nigerians to be involved, she stepped on many toes, particularly toes of
the big cabals in the oil and gas industry
"I
have not sought such assistance because I am not aware that I have been
indicted of any crime that I will need a soft landing. Over the last
four years, I have been severally and unfortunately accused and labelled
in so many malicious and vindictive ways. I have explained these things
and pushed back robustly on these accusations and I have even gone to
court on many of them.
Yet they keep being regurgitated. I think it is
unfortunate, particularly when we are moving into a transition period
and looking forward to an incoming government which is coming to take
over where we have ended. For everything that has a beginning there is
an end and that is not a surprise. What is the surprise is the sort of
malevolence bothering on personal malicious libel to my person during
this period of time.
I do believe that I have done the best for Nigeria
in this job and I have attained many firsts in the history of oil and
gas especially in the reforms that we have done. In this period of time,
I have stepped on many big toes, particularly the toes of the cabals
that were in the industry when we came in. I have said severally that we
will open up the industry to all Nigerians, and we have, but that is
not to the pleasure of certain cabals.
And I have been continuously
maligned because of this. We have taken millions and in fact billions of
dollars out of the hands of multinationals and their subcontractors and
put them in the hands of Nigerians through the Nigerian Content.
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have come into the oil and gas
industry because of our reforms.
Quite frankly, I think as unprecedented
as it is, it does not please everybody and that cannot be helped but
let us remember the unprecedented reforms that have happened in the oil
industry during our time, such as major gas reforms, the Petroleum
Industry Bill, which has been completely revised, reformed and put into
the hands of members of the National Assembly where it has languished
for two years.”she said
Source: Thecable.ng
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