The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently speak out and take action on the monumental Malabu oil scandal that is rocking his administration and again putting Nigeria under the global searchlight as a corrupt nation.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said President Jonathan must end his silence on the matter since half of the 1.1 billion U.S dollars paid to Malabu Oil and Gas for oil field OPL 245 by two oil majors was allegedly used to bribe Nigerian officials, who in turn used the proceeds to buy private jets and armoured limousines.
“The only way to know for sure is if there is an independent investigation of the allegation, which has been published by the international media after Italian prosecutors intensified their probe into the deal. This is where President Jonathan comes in: He must allow an unfettered probe of this scandal that has again put Nigeria in bad light. Whatever happens, however, the names of those who received the bribes will soon be known, thanks to the determination of the UK and Italy to show that no one who violates their laws will go scot-free.
“Just like the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandals that were also exposed from abroad, this Malabu scandal has again damaged Nigeria’s standing in the comity of nations. While U.S, France, Italy and Germany have jailed officials and imposed fines on the foreign firms that gave bribes to Nigerian officials in the Halliburton and Siemens scandals, none of those who received the bribes here in Nigeria has been touched. The Malabu scandal must not go the same way.
“There is no better way to say this. The Jonathan administration is swimming in corruption and the President has allowed it to fester. He has even tried to use semantics to cover up the extent of sleaze, saying stealing is not corruption,” it said.
APC said that the Jonathan administration has done nothing to tell Nigerians what happened to the $20 billion in diverted oil money; the multi-billion naira fuel subsidy fraud for which no single persons has been brought to justice; opaque crude oil swaps at the expense of encouraging domestic refinery; payment of billions of naira in kerosene subsidy without appropriation and the gargantuan police pension fraud.
“Under your watch, Mr. President, there is massive looting of the commonwealth by the same people being paid by taxpayers to ensure a judicious utilization of the scarce national resources. There is a growing culture of impunity because no one is punished for the looting. Now you have another chance to turn things around for the better.
“The Malabu scandal provides such a chance. All those who collected millions of dollars in bribes in the illegal transaction must be identified and brought to justice immediately. We must not always allow foreign countries to be the ones exposing corrupt Nigerian officials. Our government must act like a responsible government by demonstrating it will not allow violation of its laws or encourage corruption,” the party said.
