[b]The controversy over the integrity of the Nuhu Ribadu Committee on Petroleum has continued with fresh facts emerging from the Ministry of Petroleum that some data were presented in the report without independent verification.

In a letter purportedly written by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Olasupo Sasore, Secretary of the committee, to the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, the former anti-graft chief cited inadequate time for the assignment as being responsible for the committee’s inability to independently verify some of the data presented to it by stakeholders.

“This is our final report of the assignment. Accordingly, this report supersedes earlier copies used for presentations and discussions.

“The data used in this report was presented by various stakeholders who made submissions to the Task Force in the course of our assignment at various dates, which have been disclosed in relevant sections of the report. Due to time frame of the assignment, some of the data used could not be independently verified and the Task Force recommends that the government should conduct such necessary verifications and reconciliations,” sources quoted the said letter from Ribadu.[/b]

Ribadu and his vice chairman in the committee, Mr. Steve Oronsaye, had openly disagreed on the report last week when it was presented to President Goodluck Jonathan, an episode which was said to have thoroughly embarrassed, the nation’s number one man.

Ordinarily, a member who disagrees with a committee’s report writes a minority report but it was a surprise to many members of the public why Mr. Oronsanye chose to verbally and openly disagree with Mal. Ribadu.

Mr. Oronsaye had said that the committee did not follow due process in compiling the report but Ribadu alleged that Mr. Oronsaye tried to scuttle the submission of the report and that he (Oronsaye) had been compromised.

Mr. Mal. Ribadu told journalists that Oronsaye did attend meetings of the committee and that the only time he attended was the day the committee was to deliberate on the need for Adax Petroleum to refund $1.5 billion to the federal government Mr. Oronsaye tried to stop.

The Chairman said he wept for Nigeria because according to him, some people were obviously planted in the committee and that those people were compromised. Mr. Oronsaye was appointed into the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation within the period. He is also a member of the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/ribadu-report-cttee-did-not-verify-some-data/

Comment later:







http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/11/06/nlng-says-ribadus-report-is-grossly-erroneous/

*sighs*.

Business as usual,Ribadu's report wont see the light of the day

reserved .... waiting for further developments.

No matter the excuses given by the ministry and nlng, Ribadu's report has come to stay. The inefficiencies and maladministration in the oil and gas industry was common knowledge to all even before the Ribadu committee was constituted. The report only gave us figures and how to plug the leakages in the industry and recommended reprimands to those who have benefited or stunted the growth of the industry. The reprimand is the reason why some are hell bent on frustrating his effort

take dat: No matter the excuses given by the ministry and nlng, Ribadu's report has come to stay. The inefficiencies and maladministration in the oil and gas industry was common knowledge to all even before the Ribadu committee was constituted. The report only gave us figures and how to plug the leakages in the industry and recommended reprimands to those who have benefited or stunted the growth of the industry. The reprimand is the reason why some are hell bent on frustrating his effort

I think some of you guys should just accept that you are not really after a corrupt free Nigeria or even a better Nigeria. You are just after President Jonathan for some reasons. Before now, you and Gbawe has posited that Orosanye and every other person calling for sanity has been compromised, including DAM just because they opined that process be followed. Now, a letter from the same Ribadu to the Minister has even recommended reconciliation and independent verification of the figures, the very same thing that DAM said that nearly got her crucified by you people.

I agree with you anyway,that the petroleum sector should be restructured, but not to the advantage of the very people presently championing this anti Madueke/GEJ campaign. If you have really worked in a sensitive committee before, you will know that there are stages and independent verification of figures from the very people you are meant to reform is a key part. What Ribadu's report did from my understanding was just to gather inputs of NNPC, PPMC, etc and compile it and forward it to the Ministry while urging the Ministry headed by the same Mmadueke that you guys hated to conduct independent verification. How is that a report to be relied upon? Now you see why Orosanye said that the process is flawed. And also, if we trusted the Ribadus of this world to perform such a sensitive task and they omit the very heart of their assignment which is independent figure verification, I am afraid i have to agree with Orosanye that they should be man enough to tell the President that they are not ready with the report and the process as it were was flawed!!

I strongly feel that if we have half as much information as most of our leaders have on their tables and desire to move this country forward, we will not be behaving differently from President Jonathan and his team. It takes maturity for DAM not to release this letter to the press when the campaign of calumny against her was at its peak.

Frank-C:


I think some of you guys should just accept that you are not really after a corrupt free Nigeria or even a better Nigeria. You are just after President Jonathan for some reasons. Before now, you and Gbawe has posited that Orosanye and every other person calling for sanity has been compromised, including DAM just because they opined that process be followed. Now, a letter from the same Ribadu to the Minister has even recommended reconciliation and independent verification of the figures, the very same thing that DAM said that nearly got her crucified by you people.

I agree with you anyway,that the petroleum sector should be restructured, but not to the advantage of the very people presently championing this anti Madueke/GEJ campaign. If you have really worked in a sensitive committee before, you will know that there are stages and independent verification of figures from the very people you are meant to reform is a key part. What Ribadu's report did from my understanding was just to gather inputs of NNPC, PPMC, etc and compile it and forward it to the Ministry while urging the Ministry headed by the same Mmadueke that you guys hated to conduct independent verification. How is that a report to be relied upon? Now you see why Orosanye said that the process is flawed. And also, if we trusted the Ribadus of this world to perform such a sensitive task and they omit the very heart of their assignment which is independent figure verification, I am afraid i have to agree with Orosanye that they should be man enough to tell the President that they are not ready with the report and the process as it were was flawed!!

I strongly feel that if we have half as much information as most of our leaders have on their tables and desire to move this country forward, we will not be behaving differently from President Jonathan and his team. It takes maturity for DAM not to release this letter to the press when the campaign of calumny against her was at its peak.

I'll give no credence to the purported letter written by Ribadu to the minister unless Ribadu himself admits to it. Why should I trust a Diezani who earlier claimed that the report submitted to her a month before public knowledge was just a "Mere Draft" and the ministry would have to reconcile it only for us to know that the draft she claimed was the final report. This singular act of hers show she was trying to cover up something
Why should a Presidential task force submit its findings to a ministry under investigation to verify and reconcile? Someone is being economical with the truth here.
The deceptive motive of Orosanye and Otti together with their collaborators in govt is there for all to see. Is it with the nollywood script that was played out on friday where GEJ took part in the scenes when ordinarily protocol officers ought to have called Orosanye and Otti to order ?
I an not against GEJ or whoever but its time we put a halt to grandstanding by a government who is aware of the rot and also benefiting from the rot in the oil and gas industry. If this is a lie, then I dare GEJ to prosecute those indicted for dereliction of their duty. Just like Ribadu said, the ball is now in his court.

@frank-c
pls read the last words of the last paragraph

“The data used in this report was presented by various stakeholders who made submissions to the Task Force in the course of our assignment at various dates, which have been disclosed in relevant sections of the report. Due to time frame of the assignment, some of the data used could not be independently verified and the Task Force recommends that the government should conduct such necessary verifications and reconciliations,” sources quoted the said letter from Ribadu.

''sources quoted the said letter'' there is no truth about the said-letter! 'unknown sources' remains invalid! but what i/we saw last friday really shows that some people are taking Nigerians for granted, Nuhu ribadu said it boldly that orasanye 'Never participated for even one day' in the assignment,and that he was busy travelling throughout until Mr president call for the report,the same day (friday)orasanye flew in from abroad,this is a person who is suppose to 'deputise'the c'mmitee chairman, and in the process,he got appointed into NNPC board,thereby showing that Orasanye if not only there to rubbish the report but to tell Nigerians 'that they can go to hell' it is a shame on an elderly man Orasanye with grey hairs to show his true color as a thief,an impostor,and a fool at whatever age he is now,fool for nothing.
Im proud of Ribadu's comment without fear that 'Oransanye should have resigned from the committee with that new NNPC appointment' but when someone does not have a shame, how will he show it?
As for Mr president watering down what happened between the duo, it shows that he is not in control,and his action shows how weak he is in the face of fact, maybe he wants it resolved internally,or he is sitting on a gunpowder that he dare not allowed to be touched,well time will tell.kudos Ribadu!

So you have an external audit team with an executive and non-executive Director of the Organisation they are to investigate as members?

Abi all of una head done dey scatter? Where the hell does that happen? That is basic in selecting an investigative team and DAM cannot claim ignorance of this.

It was done to bring down the integrity and perceived objectivity of the committee.

Shameless people!!!

take dat: I'll give no credence to the purported letter written by Ribadu to the minister unless Ribadu himself admits to it. Why should I trust a Diezani who earlier claimed that the report submitted to her a month before public knowledge was just a "Mere Draft" and the ministry would have to reconcile it only for us to know that the draft she claimed was the final report. This singular act of hers show she was trying to cover up something
Why should a Presidential task force submit its findings to a ministry under investigation to verify and reconcile? Someone is being economical with the truth here.
The deceptive motive of Orosanye and Otti together with their collaborators in govt is there for all to see. Is it with the nollywood script that was played out on friday where GEJ took part in the scenes when ordinarily protocol officers ought to have called Orosanye and Otti to order ?
I an not against GEJ or whoever but its time we put a halt to grandstanding by a government who is aware of the rot and also benefiting from the rot in the oil and gas industry. If this is a lie, then I dare GEJ to prosecute those indicted for dereliction of their duty. Just like Ribadu said, the ball is now in his court.

This is mighty wondaful of you, the way you just put common sense and logic on their heads. Dieziani was right- this was not a final report but a draft as dis letter from the same Ribadu shows since SOME of d data used were not reconciled nor independently verified. Here is what happend in terms of d process: Ribadu (or someone from the committee) leaked the report to the press to give the impression that the Minister was sitting on the report and wanting to distort it, when the same Ribadu already askd the Minister to independently verify and reconcile the data and when people started to bad mouth the Minister on delaying the report for 2 weeks, the same Ribadu did not openly say that they were d people that askd her to so; this is for want of a stronger word plainly Deceitful. The link in the 2nd comment on this thread also suggests that d committee just usd the cost of the raw feed of gas stock as price at which NLNG sold gas oversees instead of the the cost of processd and transportd gas, and then simply passd d difference as part of d monies the country lost from NLNG (assuming this info from NLNG is correct).... By d way, could you point out where in d report that people where specifically indictd instead of just reinterating what we already knew: that the Oil industry has for decades been inefficiently and opaquely ran, thereby spuring corruptn and waste. Frankly, many of u guys didnt look at the recommendations of the committee (most of which are in d PIB bill currently in d National Assembly) but chose to just point fingers at people in a bid to somehow get at GEJ when d report findings has very little to do with him

BERNIMOORE: @frank-c
pls read the last words of the last paragraph



''sources quoted the said letter'' there is no truth about the said-letter! 'unknown sources' remains invalid! but what i/we saw last friday really shows that some people are taking Nigerians for granted, Nuhu ribadu said it boldly that orasanye 'Never participated for even one day' in the assignment,and that he was busy travelling throughout until Mr president call for the report,the same day (friday)orasanye flew in from abroad,this is a person who is suppose to 'deputise'the c'mmitee chairman, and in the process,he got appointed into NNPC board,thereby showing that Orasanye if not only there to rubbish the report but to tell Nigerians 'that they can go to hell' it is a shame on an elderly man Orasanye with grey hairs to show his true color as a thief,an impostor,and a fool at whatever age he is now,fool for nothing.
Im proud of Ribadu's comment without fear that 'Oransanye should have resigned from the committee with that new NNPC appointment' but when someone does not have a shame, how will he show it?
As for Mr president watering down what happened between the duo, it shows that he is not in control,and his action shows how weak he is in the face of fact, maybe he wants it resolved internally,or he is sitting on a gunpowder that he dare not allowed to be touched,well time will tell.kudos Ribadu!

I am sorry, you sound very biased. The same Ribadu also said that Orosanya has interests in Addax Petroleum. Orosanya has demanded that Ribadu back up his claim that he is member of the board of Addax. If you are really about facts, why not demand for this proof to be sure that Ribadu is not the one riding on sentiments to take us for a ride?

On Orosanya's membership of NNPC board, i don't think you understand how it works. He was appointed less than 2 months ago, while his committee is meant to appraise 2002-2011, so how does that compromise him? The same Presidency that appointed him into the committee appointed him into NNPC board, so where is the compromise there? Actually, appointing a fresh hand into the board serves the committee interest. The other option will be to involve old members of NNPC board who might have served during the time period under appraisal.

You may use uncouth words on Orosanya, but i will advice you to apply break there. No body else have really ever accused that man of corruption. He is one hell of a clean guy that the tag doesn't fit him. If you care, check his records. After his many years of service in the civil service, this is the first attempt to drag his name to the mud.

I think that you should make up your mind on this 'sources' thing. On one hand, you believe that Mmadueke is planning to doctor the report because the 'sources' said so but you are very unwilling to believe the same source when 'he' says that there was a letter.

It is pretty obvious that you don't understand how things work at the top level. A committee is formed and commissioned with a letter. They turn in a report with a letter too and this very letter is what the 'source' said was where Ribadu made his recommendations.

While i believe that we all have to fight corruption to a standstill, i strongly advice that you people stop riding on this popular sentiments to exact political advantage. You can not call Orosanye corrupt with Ribadu while being angry with the Aluu students killers.

The question remains, if we asked Ribadu to help us do this job and he did not reconcile facts turned in by the government agencies concerned (if the sources' are to be believed) has he really done justice to the assignment given to him by me and you and this country? If the Ministry should be the ones reconciling the figures, why the heck did they set up the committee in the first place? Does that not make Orosanya to be right that the conclusions reached based on this report is flawed because the process is flawed?

taharqa: This is mighty wondaful of you, the way you just put common sense and logic on their heads. Dieziani was right- this was not a final report but a draft as dis letter from the same Ribadu shows since SOME of d data used were not reconciled nor independent verified. Here is what happend in terms of d problem: Ribadu (or someone from the committee) leaked the report to the press to give the impression that the Minister was sitting on the report and wanting to distort it, when the same Ribadu already askd the Minister to independently verify and reconcile the data and when people started to bad mouth the Minister on delaying the report for 2 weeks, the same Ribadu did not openly say that they were d people that askd her to so; this is for what of a stronger word plainly Deceitful. The link in the 2nd comment on this thread also suggests that d committee just usd the cost of the raw feed of gas stock as price at which NLNG sold gas oversees instead of the the cost of processd and transportd gas, and then simply passd d difference as part of d monies the country lost from NLNG (assuming this info from NLNG is correct).... By d way, could you point out where in d report that people where specifically indictd instead of just reinterating what we already knew: that the Oil industry has for decades been inefficiently and opaquely ran, thereby spuring corruptn and waste. Frankly, many of u guys didnt look at the recommendations of the committee (most of which are in d PIB bill currently in d National Assembly) but chose to just point fingers at people in a bid to somehow get at GEJ when d report findings has very little to do with him

Guy this purported letter is the handiwork of some Government officials conspiring with their spin doctors in the media. I wonder why Diezani would have kept quiet all along even with the barrage of insults and some calling for her head if the content of the purported letter was true. This attempt is an after thought or some damage control.

I asked why should a "Presidential Task Force" constituted to investigate the industry submit its findings to a ministry under investigation? Why did the Government set up a task force if its findings will have to be doctored and reconciled by the ministry?

On the NLNG part you weren't expecting them to accept their wrongdoings. They will always come up with excuses.

Lastly, if you have read the full report you will know that the report recommended reprimand for Government officials past and present who conspired with IOC's, traders etc to short change Nigeria. This last part was what caused the disaffection among the committee members. In a just society those people responsible for this colossal fraud(16 trillion) either past heads of state,ministers,GMD ought to be brought to book then I'll know GEJ intends to tackle corruption.

take dat:
Guy this purported letter is the handiwork of some Government officials conspiring with their spin doctors in the media. I wonder why Diezani would have kept quiet all along even with the barrage of insults and some calling for her head if the content of the purported letter was true. This attempt is an after thought or some damage control.

I asked why should a "Presidential Task Force" constituted to investigate the industry submit its findings to a ministry under investigation? Why did the Government set up a task force if its findings will have to be doctored and reconciled by the ministry?

On the NLNG part you weren't expecting them to accept their wrongdoings. They will always come up with excuses.

Lastly, if you have read the full report you will know that the report recommended reprimand for Government officials past and present who conspired with IOC's, traders etc to short change Nigeria. This last part was what caused the disaffection among the committee members. In a just society those people responsible for this colossal fraud(16 trillion) either past heads of state,ministers,GMD ought to be brought to book then I'll know GEJ intends to tackle corruption.

You completely dont get it. The committee was not set up to investigate d Ministry or any oda institution and individual for that matter if by 'investigate' you mean finding out corruption practices of these institutions and individuals. This is what those ppl trying to hijack dis for political gains hv done but d terms of reference of d committee was to suggest the best payment system bw the Nigerian state and oil companies, and then identity any outstanding payments due to d state that has not yet been paid by d oil companies- this is what the committee was set up to do. They discoverd that Nigeria has been practising very inefficient and opaque systems for decades that short-changd d nation and made recommendations on how to change d system (and as you hv previously said, we already knew about this which was why pressure was put on d President to quicken d presentd of d PIB bill to d NA since MOST of these recommendatns are already containd in d bill- he has already done so); the committee 2nd recommendatn was to ask d govt to set up a machinery to recover sm payments that they identified were due the state. It was in d course of these findings that they suggestd that sm persons may have corruptd demselves for decades cos of the opaque process without been specific since it was not in their perview (Surprise! Didnt we really know this?). Now, is it not curious that what some persons have been interestd in is the people who took advantage of d system to line up their pocket and i belief cos they believe they can get at the president when most of these people and ALL of d practices happend long b4 he became president. People have taken advantage of the system since d 1970s yes and as long as it is practicable at least some of them shld be brought to book (and dis is important), but why are sm of d ppl trying to politicize dis not also say anything about how we can make d system more transparent and actually try to SOLVE d problem (they original purpose of d committee in d 1st place)? Why are they not putting any pressure on d NA to pass d PIB bill since most of d recommendatns of d committee that wud turn-around d oil industry and mk it much less prone to inefficiency, waste and corruptn, are in d bill. What about d Solutions

@take dat, less i forget. The letter publishd by Vanguard was also publish by other major newspapers yterday and today, and critically it was directd QUOTED. One expects either Ribadu or Soare to disown it if it was just a 'fabricatn' by d Ministry and i highly doubt that...

taharqa: You completely dont get it. The committee was not set up to investigate d Ministry or any oda institution and individual for that matter if by 'investigate' you mean finding out corruption practices of these institutions and individuals. This is what those ppl trying to hijack dis for political gains hv done but d terms of reference of d committee was to suggest the best payment system bw the Nigerian state and oil companies, and then identity any outstanding payments due to d state that has not yet been paid by d oil companies- this is what the committee was set up to do. They discoverd that Nigeria has been practising very inefficient and opaque systems for decades that short-changd d nation and made recommendations on how to change d system (and as you hv previously said, we already knew about this which was why pressure was put on d President to quicken d presentd of d PIB bill to d NA since MOST of these recommendatns are already containd in d bill- he has already done so); the committee 2nd recommendatn was to ask d govt to set up a machinery to recover sm payments that they identified were due the state. It was in d course of these findings that they suggestd that sm persons may have corruptd demselves for decades cos of the opaque process without been specific since it was not in their perview (Surprise! Didnt we really know this?). Now, is it not curious that what some persons have been interestd in is the people who took advantage of d system to line up their pocket and i belief cos they believe they can get at the president when most of these people and ALL of d practices happend long b4 he became president. People have taken advantage of the system since d 1970s yes and as long as it is practicable at least some of them shld be brought to book (and dis is important), but why are sm of d ppl trying to politicize dis not also say anything about how we can make d system more transparent and actually try to SOLVE d problem (they original purpose of d committee in d 1st place)? Why are they not putting any pressure on d NA to pass d PIB bill since most of d recommendatns of d committee that wud turn-around d oil industry and mk it much less prone to inefficiency, waste and corruptn, are in d bill. What about d Solutions

Guy pls don't let us over flog this issue. This wouldn't have been a topic of discussion if not for the mild drama that played out on friday and the minister hoarding the findings of the committee for almost two months.
That the committee wasn't set out to go after persons is true but if during the course of investigation certain officials were found culpable and it therefore advised that such officials should be dealt with, will you say that the committee is over reaching on its mandate? This was what Orosanye disagreed with and why some are uncomfortable with the report.

That some of those anomalies Happened before and during his Government like the missing signature bonus from the three oil blocs does not stop him from prosecuting those responsible. If he truly wants to tackle corruption in that sector

The PIB is an Executive bill, FG should lobby for its expeditious passage or you want us all to head to the NA with placards.