– Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has alleged that some corrupt Nigerians now hide their loots in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages in some parts of the country
– Melaye made the revelation while moving a motion tagged ‘discrepancies in subsidy payment and non-remittance of funds by the NNPC to the federation account
– The lawmaker had on Tuesday 28th February, drawn the attention of the Senate to the refusal of the federal government to probe the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has alleged that some corrupt Nigerians now hide their loots in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages in some parts of the country.
Senator Dino Melaye speaking during a plenary session
The Sun reports that Melaye said this while moving a motion tagged ‘discrepancies in subsidy payment and non-remittance of funds by the NNPC to the federation account’ on the floor of the Upper Legislative Chambers on Wednesday 1st March.
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Melaye said: “Monies are not accounted for and that might be the reason we now see petro-dollars buried in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages in some parts of the country.”
It should be recalled that the lawmaker had on Tuesday 28th February, drawn the attention of the Senate to the refusal of the federal government to probe the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which he said got 51 out of 100 per cent share of companies sanctioned to import petroleum products into the country.
He had said all the oil marketers currently facing trial over alleged subsidy fraud.
Melaye had said: “Surprisingly you (Saraki) are one of those who raised the issue of subsidy in the 7th Senate. The Federal Government is prosecuting marketers and these marketers only constitute 49 per cent of imported refined products. The NNPC is responsible for the importation of 51 per cent.
“While we are prosecuting the independent marketers whose proceed from subsidy is about N3.83 trillion, NNPC collected a total of N5.1 trillion on subsidy and this has never been investigated.
“This has never been looked at and we are busy chasing independent marketers. The time to look at the books of NNPC as regards petroleum subsidy is now.
“We have taken the lead in the fight against corruption in this chamber and I want to say we must do everything within our powers to investigate and bring whoever is found wanting to book.”
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, had given a nod to Melaye’s plea to sponsor a motion on Tuesday 28th February, saying: “Thank you Senator Melaye for that radical performance.
“Senator Melaye, we expect this motion on Wednesday and its a very serious issue. It goes to the core of the fight against corruption and also the issue of NNPC which is a great source of revenue for all of us. We will wait for that motion today,” Saraki had noted.
After a brief debate on the issue on Tuesday, the Senate mandated its committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to exhaustively review and investigate the NNPC over its accounts relating to fuel subsidy and the abuse of product marketing and distribution between 2006 and 2016.
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Charging the Senate committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to conduct a holistic investigation, Saraki said: “A situation where individuals do what they like and are not accountable to anybody should be stopped. The committee should do a thorough job and ensure that they get to the root of this issue. The thing borders on the issue of corruption which has been affecting the country negatively.”
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