Oil cabal behind my ordeal, says Alison-Madueke

Oil cabal behind my ordeal, says Alison-Madueke

Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, on Wednesday, declared that ‘corrupt elements’ in the oil sector were behind all the allegations levelled against her.
She said because the reforms she put in place were against the selfish interest of the ‘oil cabal’, members of the powerful group were determined to tarnish her image by spreading the rumour that she was seeking asylum abroad to avoid being probed by the incoming administration of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking in Aso Rock, Abuja, she also denied that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was not ready to remit to the federation account the $1.48 billion uncovered by a recent forensic audit conducted by Price Water House Cooper, a reputable international accounting firm.
She said: “For everything that has a beginning, there is an end. What is the surprise is the sort of malevolence bordering on personal malicious libel to my person. I do believe that I have done the best for Nigeria in this job and I have attained many firsts in the history of oil and gas, especially in the reforms that we have done. In this period of time, I have stepped on many big toes, particularly the feet of the cabals that were in the industry when we came in. Because I have said severally that we will open up the industry to all Nigerians and we did, that is not to the pleasure of certain cabals. I have been continuously maligned because of this and we have taken millions and, in fact, billions of dollars out of the hands of multinationals and their subcontractors and put them in the hands of Nigerians. Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have come into the oil and gas industry because of our reforms.
“Quite frankly, I think as unprecedented as it is, it does not please everybody and that cannot be helped but let us remember the unprecedented reforms that have happened in the oil industry during our time, such as major gas reforms, the Petroleum Industry Bill, which has been completely revised, reformed and put into the hands of members of the National Assembly where it has languished for two years.
“In that bill are all the reforms needed to tear NNPC apart, make it a National Oil Company, an equity share company through transparency, accountability and responsibility and reduce corruption in the industry. We did all these and we put them in place to reduce corruption. So, for me to be tagged with various appellations of corruption, this is coming from the cabal. $10 million jet purchases, who buys jet for $10 million dollars for goodness sake? And $20 billion missing money, missing where?
“I have said during our time that there are gaps in the NNPC and I said that openly. But I can also say that there is no time in Nigerian history in the oil and gas that the NNPC has been as open and audited as it is today.
“It has been positioned to go forward in the industry. It is true that the revenue profile is not sustainable. But we have done our best and the Nigerian oil and gas sector is today in a better shape than it has ever been in terms of achievements that we recorded.
“So, let me state it clearly for the records that Nigeria is my country and I am not going anywhere. I love my country and I do think that I have done the best for my country. I would also like to point out that these malicious, malevolence, vindictive stories coming out of places like Osun Defender and other faceless online and other entities need to stop. We have done enough for this industry, we cannot please everybody. Yes, we have stepped on toes but we did that in the best interest of Nigeria and we have opened up the oil and gas industry to all Nigerians. Thousands of Nigerians have benefitted from our reforms in the system”.
She declared that there was nothing unusual in her recent meeting with former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.