Gen Buhari Not Happy With Lack Of Functional Refinery In Nigeria

A former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, on Monday urged the National Assembly to adopt a holistic approach to ensuring transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector.
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Buhari made the call at a roundtable for Legislators and Civil Society Organisations organised by the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) in Abuja.
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PGF is a forum of 16 state governors who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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The theme of the roundtable was; “Improving governance through transparency, budgeting, accountability and effective public financial management“.
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He noted that it was a duty of legislature in every democracy to demand accountability in the management of national resources from the executives.
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Buhari, who decried lack of transparency in the management of petroleum industry, stressed the need for the legislature to champion the fight against corruption in the industry.
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He said petroleum industry accounted for 85 per cent of domestic revenue and 90 per cent of foreign revenues in the country, hence the need for proper auditing of the industry.
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“It is unfortunate that the legislature has. allowed the most important sector of the Nigerian economy for eight years without being audited,” Buhari said.
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The Chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC) said that NASS oversight functions should be reinvigorated to ensure strict compliance with budgetary provision.
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He expressed concern over lack of functional refinery in the country as one of the major oil producing countries in the world.
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Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, proposed the review of the timeframe for budget presentation by the executive to Sept 30 of evey year.
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“ I propose an amendment to the words “anytime” to September 30 which gives the legislature three clear months to work on the budget before the beginning of the next fiscal year.
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Gbajabiamila said fiscal federalism must feature prominently in allocation of resources and urged NASS to shun being partisan during budget consideration.
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The Chairman of the PGF, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, expressed determination of APC to provide good governance that would promote equity, transparency and the rule of law.
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Okorocha said that the objective of the roundtable was to address the problem of poor public finance management on the delivery of public goods and service.
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“ APC is desirous of building strong partnership with civil society organisations aimed at strengthening capacity of citizens to engage governments at all levels.
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“The APC would also ensure that all public officials are transparently accountable. “