NEITI audit won’t stop Ribadu panel - Diezani

[DT]

The Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke  has said that the zeal to have an updated figure in the petroleum revenue transactions is behind the reasons for inaugurating the Special Task Force on Petroleum Revenue  headed by Malam Nuhu Ribadu.  There are pressures from Civil Society Organizations on the recent inauguration of the task force which appears to have ignored the recommendations by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) .

Speaking to journalists yesterday in Abuja, the minister said NEITI audit report is at least a year behind. "I think the most recent NEITI audit is 2006 – 2008. We are now in 2012, obviously we are talking about looking forward in completely new, aggressive and radical ways, with our refineries if we are to move them to work, at least at 80 percent installed capacity. Therefore we must review our recent audits in the profit and loss conversational option of the processes of refineries," she said.

Within the last two months the minister has inaugurated about four special task forces which include the one on Petroleum Industry Bill and PIB technical, Governance and Controls within NNPC and other parastatals of the ministry of petroleum resources, the petroleum revenue and on the nation's refineries.

Only last week, NEITI said it has commenced the audit of the petroleum sector to cover 2009 to 2011. At several occasions the recommendation by NEITI audits were not

strongly pursued by the executive and legislature arms as stipulated in the NEITI Act 2007.

DailyTrust