Writing under the topic: "Timi Frank's Obsession With Phantom $20bn" on my back page column in the LEADERSHIP NEWSPAPERS of Tuesday 16, one "John Abiola-Bada" purportedly a "public policy analyst based in Lagos" tried unsuccessfully to respond to my article of Tuesday 9th titled: "Still on Jonathan, Diezani and the missing $20billion."
However, a cursory check, after reading the often repeated lies in the piece, revealed that there is no such "public policy analyst based in Lagos" by the name "John Abiola-Bada" but that the write-up emanated from the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), using "John Abiola-Bada" as a pseudonym.
However, in their desperation to further regurgitate their well-worn lies, Diezani and the NNPC chose to write incognito in the hope that a continuous recast of their prevarications would make Nigerians accept them as truth. But they are wrong. They are wrong because Nigerians have read between the lines and they know the masquerades that masterminded the deliberate falsehood.
Ordinarily, one would not want to dignify a "ghost" with a response or waste precious time, space and resources to answer critics too petrified to make their true identities public, but I am compelled to make a few clarifications here so that right thinking members of the public would not be tempted to believe the baseless illogicalities parroted by the NNPC and Diezani through ghost writing. The resort to disguised publications, I am reliably informed, is meant to rebrand their image both nationally and internationally.
I want to state unequivocally that all allegations against my person and the publisher of LEADERSHIP Newspaper in the purported write-up by the faceless hirelings of Diezani and the NNPC are baseless and without any truth whatsoever. They are only seeking ways to divert the attention of Nigerians from the main issues so as to further bury their nefarious activities which I have vowed not to allow to happen. Needless to say that even the Federal Government did not buy the red herring cum Senate report that supposedly cleared Diezani and the NNPC which they quoted copiously in the write-up. Therefore, the appointment of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to carry out a forensic audit of the NNPC's records. Any attempt to explain away the missing $20billion on the basis of a jaundiced report of the Senate Committee on Finance remains unacceptable to majority of Nigerians.
Some members of the Committee had in their mortgaged conclusion, submitted that $49.8billion never existed. On the other hand, they served Nigerians with a higher figure of $67billion as the amount of crude oil sales for the period in contention. Therefore, the unanimous agreement by the various stakeholders after due reconciliations that the NNPC only remitted $47billion into the Federation Account out of the new figure of $67billion led to the outstanding balance of $20billion in question. I make bold to say that no where in the report did the Committee availed Nigerians of a detailed evidence based analysis of how and when the outstanding $20billion was remitted into the federal coffers or used to settle concocted subsidy claims which appears to be the usual refrain of the NNPC. So I ask, where is the missing $20billion oil revenue from the NNPC?
I have never hidden the fact that I believe that the NNPC under the supervision of Diezani is complicit in the missing $20bn, and therefore, I have never stopped to call on Mr. President and well meaning Nigerians not to allow the matter to be swept under the carpet. Aside, I have petitioned the EFCC to investigate the $20billion heist as well as the international community to come to the aid of Nigeria in its effort to recover the humongous amount and to help scale up the fight against corruption in high places.
Those behind the write up say I should not talk because the "Senate has cleared the NNPC and Diezani," but they forget that the Senate is not a court of law but a law making body. So how could they have cleared the NNPC and Diezani on this matter?
Consequently, I wish to let Nigerians know that this is just the beginning of my struggle against impunity and brazen corruption in this country. The missing $20billion is significant in that it signposts the collateral damage our economy has continued to undergo through and through. It is now clear that the reply was sponsored through a pen name to defend the NNPC and Diezani as part of their ongoing rebranding campaign in both traditional, social and online media.
The missing $20billion belongs to Nigerians and not any government official. Therefore, no amount of name calling, blackmail, intimidation, threat messages and harassment will stop me from talking about it. Right now, my lawyers are in court seeking to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute all those responsible for the missing $20billion. On my part, I will keep organizing public protests and encouraging Nigerians both home and abroad to embark on open demonstrations so as to draw the attention of Nigerians and the international community to this cancerous plight of corruption in our country.
Again, this is just the beginning of the struggle to recoup the $20billion because Diezani and the NNPC have not answered the questions being raised by Nigerians. The impunity with which Diezani carries out her duties again calls for the concern of all. Under her tenure, four Group Managing Directors (GMDs) of the NNPC have been sacked. Yet she remains the main problem as Chair of the Board of the NNPC.
What are we even talking about? Is Diezani still worthy to be in office in spite of being overly protected to continue her ruinous acts in the economy? Under her watch, staff of refineries that have not been able to achieve 50 per cent of installed production capacity are threatening to go on strike. The missing $20billion, if found, is more than enough to settle staff claims in the Corporation as well as counter other myriads of security issues bedeviling our country today. So what is she still doing there? One million hatchet jobs by Diezani and the NNPC cannot stop me from carrying on the struggle.
I have assured Nigerians before now that the issue of the missing $20billion is a fight of no retreat no surrender. I want to assure them once again that I will not let them down despite the intimidation, blackmail, harassment and name calling by Diezani and her associates. The issue of missing $20 billion and the squandering of N10billion for private jet hire cannot be wished away just like previous cases of corruption in Nigeria. I will continue to lead the struggle to expose corruption in Nigeria and for the recovery of the missing $20billion. The truth is still standing - whether the government or NNPC likes it or not - $20billion oil revenue is still missing!
Signed:
Comrade Timi Frank
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