The Nuhu Ribadu led committee on the Petroleum Revenue Taskforce has been blamed for rushing to submit its report on the investigation of the nation’s oil sector, thereby bungling an opportunity to reform the oil sector.
This was acknowledged by the two guests on our weekend show, Sunrise, who both enjoined the federal government not to dump the report.
They called for another committee to be set-up to further investigate the report and reconcile the controversial figures.
According to Mr Oladeinde Ariyo, a security expert, “the committee was in no doubt self-destruct with some intrusion in the committee” he stated while speaking on the members that made up the committee.
But the committee shot itself in the foot by admitting that figures in the report were not verified, he added.
“Stating that the figures are not verified threw the spanner in the wheel of the report” he said, adding that the committee should have requested for more time to conduct a thorough job.
The Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe had on Thursday revealed that a paragraph which he described as a ‘Disclaimer’ made the report “perfidious and incomplete. “
The paragraph in the submitted report stated that “due to the 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.”
Also discrediting the report, a former Commissioner with Ekiti State Civil Service, Chief Sanya Adesua, stated that “there is no way the report can be enforced because the committee self-confessed that they have failed by not verifying numerous data quoted in the report.”
He also decried the failure of the committee to invite and interview critical stakeholders in the nation’s oil and gas sector such as the NLNG.
He commended Mr Steve Oronsanye, who was involved in a brawl with the committee’s chairman during the presentation of the report that it was not ready.
“God bless Steve Oronsanye” he stated as he admitted that the two men that kicked against the report are now vindicated.
The two analysts also demanded that the committee members must come out and explain to Nigerians why they bungled this profound opportunity.
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