] Fuel Subsidy: Diezani Alison-Madueke Refuses To Step Down

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has dismissed calls by critics for her to step down from office to allow proper investigation into allegations of abuse in the management of petroleum subsidies.
Alison-Madueke, who spoke to journalists yesterday after the inauguration of the Special Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) Task Force, in Abuja, also noted that the incidence of corruption and abuse in the subsidy process occurred in past administrations prior to recent adoption of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, by her ministry.
Said she “We live in a democratic country; everyone has the right to speak their mind both for and against any individual, particularly individuals that put themselves up for public office. And I must add that individuals that put themselves up for public office should be very open for criticism because without criticism we cannot grow.”
Throwing more light on what had transpired in the Ministry since her assumption of office she said:  “The PPPRA came under the Ministry of Petroleum Resource less than a year ago. Prior to that, the agency was reporting to the Presidency, and had a Chairman of  Board. Once it came under the ministry, we  looked at it critically and put a new management in place and reshuffled its staff. “
She pointed out that the problem of corruption in the handling of petroleum subsidy had been existing for many years before the present  administration. “It did not start in this administration. However, what we have done is to move in and attempt to put processes in place to have the place under control in the shortest possible time,” she stated.
She noted that for about eight months,  after the agency was taken over by the Ministry, they looked at the performance indicators for the allocation and  were concerned over what we saw and what was on ground from the performance indicator.
“On that basis and considering other issues that we  heard, we appointed a new Executive Secretary to go in with the mandate to reform the place, tighten the control and look again at our regulations, and ensure that the entire system, the processes and procedure were handled in a much tighter and controlled manner.”
“And I must state that since the beginning of November when the changes occurred, we have seen remarkable progress.
“Of course, we also called in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to come in and look at the books, and to prosecute people were they are found culpable. I would assume that we had already put in the necessary processes and procedures to make sure that things are done in a proper manner.”
Speaking on the relevance of the Special Task Force, Alison-Madueke explained that the work done by the Oil and Gas Sector  Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC)  on the previous bill could not be said to have been in vain.
“However, after the failure of the bill to sail through the sixth National Assembly, we feel that it needs to be redefined and gingered up for a very expedient passage through the new National Assembly.
“We are also aware, as a matter of fact, that at the end of the last National Assembly, there were more than a few copies of the PIB that were floating around. Bringing together these eminent group of Nigerians and very experienced technical committee is aimed at redefining the bill, by bringing all the indices into place and looking at all the critical sections to the strategic purpose of the bill.
“Let us bear in mind that this bill has been in the making for over fifty years, but what we are saying is that no matter how long it has taken we need to get it right once and for all.”
She added that, “This bill is very critical because it is one upon which the entire oil and gas industry will stand for posterity. In a nutshell, the work of the committee is to take it further, redefine it and ensure that is passed as quickly as possible.”