Missing’ $20bn Palava: I have no skeleton in my cupboard, Jonathan to Buhari

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It was gathered that Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said his government
had nothing to hide in respect of the claim by a former Central Bank
of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi, that $20bn oil money was not
remitted to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation.
To prove this, he said he had directed that the full report
byPriceWaterHousewhich was commissioned to carry out a detailed
investigation into the activities of the NNPC be made public
immediately.
President Jonathan, in a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, also described the allegation
by the All Progressives Congress that his officials were embarking on
last minute illegal actions as "unfortunate and uncharitable."
The president elect had while receiving an APC delegation from Adamawa
State on Sunday, expressed surprise that instead of probing the
allegation by Sanusi ,who is now the Emir of Kano, the Jonathan-led
Peoples Democratic Party administration chose to fire him.
Buhari stated that since Sanusi's claim was documented, his
administration would take a look at it after the May 29 handover date.
The president elect said, "On the issue of corruption, I heard that
some people have started returning money. I will not believe it until
I see for myself.
"You all remember what the Emir of Kano talked about when he was the
governor of the CBN. He said $20bn, not N20bn, was unaccounted for;
they said it was a lie. Instead of investigating it, they sacked him.
And God in his infinite mercy made him the Emir of Kano. In any case,
that is what he wanted. And since this was documented, our
administration will take a look at it."
Sanusi had written a letter to Jonathan that $49bn was not remitted to
the Federation Account by the NNPC.
But following the controversy which the letter generated, a committee
was set up to reconcile the account.
Sanusi later recanted and said the unremitted fund was $12bn. He later
changed the figure to $20bn.
But Abati, in his statement, said Jonathan was concerned by the
continuing suggestions that his administration had anything to hide on
the allegation.
The statement read in part, "President Jonathan is also deeply
concerned by the continuing suggestions that his administration still
has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20bn is
unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure.
"To lay the matter to rest, President Jonathan in line with Section
7(2) of the NNPC Act, has directed that the full report of the PWC
Forensic Audit of the NNPC accounts be released immediately to the
public so that all Nigerians will be properly informed on the matter."
When journalists asked Abati why Jonathan had to wait until Buhari
said he would look into Sanusi's allegation before making the audit
report public, he said he did not know the circumstances in which the
President gave the directive.
He said all he knew was that the issue had been in the public domain
for a long time and that there was the need to lay it to rest.
Abati gave assurance that Jonathan would continue to do his best to
ensure a smooth handover to the President-elect but regretted what he
called the unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in a
recent statement by the APC's spokesman, Lai Mohammed.
He said that as the APC's spokesman threatened in his statement, the
incoming administration would be perfectly within its rights to review
all actions of the present government as it might deem fit.
Abati added that there was nothing wrong with that because the
Jonathan government also reviewed the actions of previous governments
on assumption of office with resultant benefits for policy and project
implementation.
Abati's statement explained, "We have noted with concern, the
allegation by the spokesman for the APC, Alhaji Mohammed, that
officials of the Federal Government are engaged in 'last-minute
looting of the nation's resources, rushed privatisation of key
institutions and hurried recruitment into the public service'.
"We also consider as most unfortunate and uncharitable, the suggestion
by Alhaji Mohammed that the Jonathan administration is trying to "tie
the hands" of the incoming government merely by continuing to
discharge its constitutional responsibilities until the end of its
tenure.
"The Jonathan administration which continues to do its best to ensure
a smooth and peaceful handover of power to the President-elect deeply
regrets the unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in Alhaji
Mohammed's statement.
"President Jonathan has done his best in the past five years to
discharge his constitutional responsibilities for good governance and
effective leadership of the nation.
"Without any prejudice whatsoever to the freedom of the incoming
administration to do as it pleases, within the confines of extant laws
when it assumes office, the Jonathan Administration will continue to
discharge its responsibility to govern until May 29, 2015.
"In continuing to fulfil the obligations of his office however,
President Jonathan has not, and will never condone any form of
unscrupulous conduct on the part of state officials.
"President Jonathan will also never authorise any attempt to create
any problems for the incoming administration as the APC spokesperson,
who ought to know that the outcome of the March 28 presidential
election does not imply a cessation of governance, unjustly alleges.
"As Alhaji Mohammed threatened in his statement, the incoming
administration will be perfectly within its rights to review all
actions of the present government as it may deem fit.
"We see nothing wrong with that. After all, the present administration
reviewed the actions of previous governments on assumption of office
with resultant benefits for policy and projects."
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