One of those indicted in the
damning revelations made in
the report of the House of Reps
Committee that investigated
the fuel subsidy regime is the
current Governor of Gombe
State, Alhaji Ibrahim
Dankwambo who had served
as the Accountant General of
the Federation between 2005
and 2010.
The indictment has led to calls from within the state that
Alhaji Dankwambo should resign his position. Most of those
who spoke to Street Journal in Gombe described it as
“embarrassing that somebody of Governor Dankwambo’s
calibre could be involved in such atrocities”. Calls have also
gone to the Gombe State House of Assembly to commence
moves to impeach him in case he refuses to resign.
According to the report, over N2 trillion was expended as
fuel subsidy between 2009 and December 2011. The bulk of
the blame for the irregularities was put on the Petroleum
Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, as well as on former
accountant general of the federation Ibrahim Dankwambo
and former chairman of the PPPRA board Ahmadu Ali.
One of the committee’s recommendations was that the
power’s currently being wielded by the Petroleum Minister
should be reduced. To achieve this, the panel recommended
that instead of having only Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke as
Petroleum Minister, two Ministers should be appointed to
oversee the Ministry. While one would oversee the
upstream, the other would be for the downstream.
The committee also recommended that members of the
boards and managements of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Petroleum Products
Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPRA), past and present,
who are found wanting, for making unauthorised deductions
of hundreds of billions during the period should be
prosecuted.
The sack of present management of the NNPC led by Mr.
Austin Oniwon was also recommended.
It also said NNPC must be made to refund to the federal
purse N705 billion; PPPRA N312 billion; oil marketers who
drew funding without importation, N8.7 billion; while
companies that refused to appear during the investigations
are to repay N41.9 billion.
It was stated in the report that “if the Petroleum Subsidy
Fund was properly managed, the sum of N1.07 trillion would
have been available to the three tiers of government.”
The House yesterday said the report’s 61 recommendations
would be considered at a plenary session to be relayed on
live television on Tuesday.
A portion of the report of the committee on the NNPC reads
in part: “the management and board of the NNPC should be
completely overhauled and all those involved in the
following infractions be further investigated and prosecuted
by the relevant anti-corruption agencies:
Payment of N285.098 billion in excess of the PPPRA
recommended figure for 2011, subsidy deductions of
N310.414 billion for kerosene against a Presidential
directive;
Direct deductions from funds for the Federation Account in
contravention of section 162 of the Nigerian constitution and
illegal granting of price differential or discounts of crude oil
price per barrel to NNPC to the tune of N108.648 billion
from 2009-2011.
NNPC should be unbundled to make its operations more
efficient and transparent, and this we believe can also be
achieved through the passage of a well drafted and
comprehensive Petroleum Industry Bill. The committee
therefore urges the speedy drafting and submission of the
bill to the National Assembly.
The NNPC was found not to be accountable to anybody or
authority. The corporation in 2011 processed payment of
N310.4 billion as 2009-2011 arrears of subsidy on kerosene
contrary to a Presidential directive which removed subsidy
on kerosene in 2009 without any provisions in the
Appropriation Act.”
The committee recommended “direct for the auditing of the
NNPC to determine its solvency. This was as a result of
claims of indebtedness and demands for payments by the
NNPC’s debtors which if not well handled, will not only
affect the entire economy of Nigeria, but also supply and
distribution of petroleum products”.
The committee also stated that “the chairman of the board
of the PPPRA from 2009-2011, and the entire members of
the board during the period are hereby reprimanded and
their decision which opened the floodgate for the bazaar is
condemned in the strongest terms.”
Alhaji Dankwambo, the Governor of Gombe State was not
spared, the report said, “the particular Accountant General
that served during the period 2009 was found to have made
payments of equal instalments of N999 million for the
record of 128 times within 24 hours totalling N127.872
billion.
The confirmed payments from CBN records were made to
beneficiaries yet to be disclosed by the OAGF or identified
by the committee. We however, discovered that only 36
marketers were participants under the PSF scheme during
this period. Even if there were 128 marketers, it was
inconceivable that all would have imported the same
quantity of products to warrant equal payments.”
It was also included in the recommendations that: “all those
in the Federal Ministry of Finance, office of the Director
General of the budget, Accountant General of the Federation
involved in the extra budgetary expenditure under the
Petroleum Support Scheme between 2009-2011 should be
sanctioned in accordance with the civil service rules and
code of conduct bureau. The payment of N999 million 128
times within 24 hours between 12th and 13th January 2009
by the office of the Account General should be further
investigated by relevant anti-corruption agencies”.
Trade and Investment minister Dr. Olusegun Aganga served
as Finance Minister during the period, while Dr. Bright
Okogu has been Director General of the Budget Office.
The report clearly showed that the subsidy regime was
operated from 2009-2011 was fraught with “endemic
corruption and entrenched inefficiency. Much of the amount
claimed to have been paid as subsidy was actually not for
consumed PMS. Government officials made nonsense of
the PSF guidelines due to mainly sleaze and in some case
incompetence. It is therefore apparent that the insistence by
top government officials that the subsidy figures were for
products consumed was a clear attempt to mislead the
Nigerian people.”
The committee found out that N2.6 trillion was spent on
subsidy last year, amounting to more than 900 per cent over
the appropriated sum of N245 billion.

www.thestreetjournal.org/2012/04/fuel-subsidy-report-gombe-state-governor-dankwambo-in-n-127-8-billion-fraud/

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Ok

Only an act of state parliament can bring him to justice now if guilty, because of the immunity he now enjoys...

If he's found wanting, that immunity clause should be shoved up his a$s so he can face the music. Enough of all this immunity nonsense.

The fact that one has immunity doesn't give one the right to abuse and rape the laws of the land.

subsidy deductions of N310.414 billion for kerosene against a Presidential directive;

When will the online, print and social media stop deceiving Nigerians will this so called presidential directive which according to Senate Committee on Finance and Statutory laws establishing NNPC and other relevant Acts of National Assembly as amended is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

President Yar'dua was wrong and the Minister, NNPC and Accountant General were right to continue the Kerosene subsidy in the absence of official gazette to NNPC and State Broadcast through major TV/Radio Stations across the country as stipulated by law.

Blame Yar'dua for lack of knowledge on relevant laws or fear of the uproar hence the secrecy.

@ OP abeg change direction, dis is an old news and infact dankwambo was at d senate hearing to defend himself n since then he has been exhonerated of any wrong doing. He left d office of AG since 2010 n dis is 2015 abegi

socialmediaman:
Only an act of state parliament can bring him to justice now if guilty, because of the immunity he now enjoys...

Something should be done about that! This people keep getting away with so many things....the next thing they do is run for senate

SarahBabyxx:


Something should be done about that! This people keep getting away with so many things....the next thing they do is run for senate

Yes, senate law amendment would be able to do that, but with the largesse of funds available, they may block such from passing through at the state level. The law should actually be amended to shield them only from civil offences but not criminal offences

Judicial reforms will help too.