President Muhammadu Buhari has accused some former
ministers and government officials of illegal sale and
diversion of crude oil monies belonging to the federal
government.
Buhari said such individuals would not go unpunished, saying
his administration was examining evidence that would lead to
their arrest and prosecution.
He said this at the Nigerian embassy in Washington on
Wednesday while answering questions during an interactive
session with Nigerians in the diaspora.
“We are now looking for evidences of shipping some of our
crude, their destinations and where and which accounts they
were paid and in which country,” he said.
“When we get as much as we can get as soon as possible, we
will approach those countries to freeze those accounts and go
to court, prosecute those people and let the accounts be taken
to Nigeria.
“The amount of money is mind-boggling but we have started
getting documents of some senior people in government,
former ministers, some of them had as much as five accounts
and were moving about one million barrel per day on their
own.
“We have started getting those documents. Whichever
documents we are able to get and subsequently trace the sale
of the crude or transfer of money from ministries,
departments, Central Bank.
“We will ask for the cooperation of those countries to return
those monies to federation accounts and we will use those
documents to arrest those people and prosecute them. This, I
promise Nigerians.”
The president frowned at the manner the Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was being managed, saying
his administration would check the excesses of the
corporation.
He said that his administration was carefully studying the
issue of oil subsidy in order not to take decisions that would
further impoverish Nigerians through the removal of oil
subsidy.
“When people ask you to remove subsidy ask them to define
it. Who is subsidizing who? Let me make it clear. The people
are gleefully saying `remove subsidy,” he said.
“They want petrol to cost N500 per litre. If you are working
and subsidy is removed, you can’t control transport, you can’t
control market women, the cost of food, the cost of transport.
“If you are earning N20,000 per day and you are living in
Lagos or Ibadan, the cost of transport to work and back, the
cost of food. You cannot control the market women they have
to pay what transporters charge them.
“If there is need for removing subsidy, I will study it. With my
experience, I will see what I can do. But I’m thinking more
than half the population of Nigeria virtually cannot afford to
live.
“Where will they get the money to go work? How can they
feed their families? How can they pay rent?
“If Nigeria were not an oil producing country – all well and
good. Our refineries are not working. We have a lot of work to
do.”