The people
who misappropriated billions of naira of funds belonging to Nigeria’s state oil
company NNPC, will soon be prosecuted, President Muhammadu Buhari has said,
according to his spokesman, Femi Adesina, Premium Times is reporting.
Mr. Buhari, who said this on Sunday in New York at a meeting
with President Xi Jinping of China, said his administration was determined to
fully sanitize Nigeria’s oil industry and make it totally free of corruption
and shady deals.
The President did not, however, indicate how soon the
prosecutions would start or if indeed investigations have been concluded and
clearly culpable individuals established.
The NNPC under the immediate past administration of President
Goodluck Jonathan was involved in several shady deals, many of which have been
cancelled by the present government. However, Mr. Jonathan’s Petroleum
Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been away from Nigeria since Mr. Buhari
was sworn-in as president.
At the meeting held on the sidelines of the 70th General
Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. Buhari said that a necessary first step in
reforming the oil sector had already been taken with the appointment of a new
management for the NNPC and its subsequent reorganisation.
The president thanked Mr. Jinping for China’s ongoing help in
curbing crude oil theft from Nigeria.
He applauded China’s interception of shiploads of crude oil stolen from Nigeria, and which were to be sold and proceeds paid into private accounts.
He applauded China’s interception of shiploads of crude oil stolen from Nigeria, and which were to be sold and proceeds paid into private accounts.
Mr. Jinping told Mr. Buhari that China, which is already
involved in Nigeria in diverse areas like railway, airports, agriculture, and
in the Mambilla Hydro-power project, among others, will increase its investment
in the country’s agricultural sector to support the achievement of domestic
food security.
He also promised further Chinese investment in Nigeria’s oil and
gas industry, and more support for human capital development in the country.
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