The
former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Malam
Nuhu Ribadu, on Tuesday boasted that he will fish out the petroleum
subsidy thieves within one week if given the task by the Federal
Government.
He
blamed the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency for all the
atrocities perpetrated in the management of the fund, saying the agency
released the funds and did not account for it.
He
submitted that as an intelligent chief he would simply check their
letters of credit and bill of landing to bring all those who benefited
from the subsidy to justice.
Ribadu,
who spoke at the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission in Abuja,
said all the regulatory irregularities in Nigeria are due to “leadership
failure.”
His
words: “Look at the energy sector and see what we are talking about.
Most of the problems we are talking about today are failure of
regulation or regulators including the subsidy. If PPPRA had lived up to
expectations we would not be having these problems. Nobody will take
one penny from government if those agencies did not allow them.
“If
I was to handle this subsidy I will just catch PPPRA. I will bring out
each one of them and in one week I will get the people responsible
because the gate keeper is the one in charge.
“I
will just get them because nobody will make one penny from the subsidy
unless PPPRA allows it. For every single person that benefited from
subsidy I can assure you public officers gained three times,” Ribadu
stated.
He added that the NERC Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi, needs “courage” to carry out the reform in the power sector.
