‘Why Diezani Must Step Aside For Forensic Audit Of NNPC’

diezani-allison-madueke-465x315A non-governmental organization, the Gatekeeper Foundation, has insisted that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, must be sacked to ensure that she does not interfere with the forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The audit was approved by President Goodluck Jonathan after the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Malam Lamido Sanusi, alleged non-remittance of $20 billion by NNPC to the Federation Account.

Briefing journalists in Abuja on Saturday, the Executive Director of Gatekeepers Foundation, Blessing Agbomhere, said that it will not be right for a government that claims to be fighting corruption, to allow the minister be a judge in her own case.

According to Agbomhere, Diezani is not bigger than Nigeria and should stop running away from the National Assembly if she had nothing to hide.

He stressed that it was his group that protested at Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, to stop Diezani’s emergence as Secretary General of the prestigious organization.

“She must bring our money and I am ready to go to court over this issue. What is good for Sanusi is good for Diezani. She must step aside for the forensic audit to be carried out.

“The President should sack Diezani now to allow the forensic audit to take place. She is not bigger than Nigeria, she is not bigger than the National Assembly.

“Why is she afraid to appear before the Senate if she had nothing to hide?” Agbomhere queried.

Replying his critics, who believed that protesting in Vienna was not good for Nigeria’s image, he said: “I went to Vienna to protect the image of Nigeria and not to soil it”.

On his interest in this matter, he said: “I am a Nigerian and a taxpayer in this country. There is no way the action or inaction of the government won’t affect me and my generation unborn. We have a right to ask her about our money and she must bring the money”.