- Diezani Allison-Madueke has responded to a report that she had withdrawn N1.3 billion from the coffers of the NNPC during her tenure as petroleum minister
- She chided the EFCC for lacking understanding of the constitution as she stated that she had acted with the approval of the president
- She stressed that it is not within the powers of a minister to flout or disregard the written directives of the president, and went further to outline the process of disbursement of funds
The former minister of petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of lacking understanding about the constitutional powers of a president in managing funds meant for security/intelligence agencies, The Cable reports.
The former minister made her comments in a statement issued via her media aide, Clem Aguiyi.
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NAIJ.com gathers that she made the comments in response to a report that she had withdrawn the sum of N1.3 billion from the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), during her tenure as petroleum minister.
According to Madueke, quoting section 5 of the constitution, the president is vested with all executive powers, and may exercise it directly or through the vice president or ministers.
She stated further, that she was an appointee and delegate of the president, in her capacity as minister.
In her words: “On the issue in question, the minister of petroleum resources acted on the basis of the written approvals and directives given by the president, which approvals were given after written requests from the relevant security agencies were made to the president.
“At such instances, as in fact the article clearly shows, a service chief or intelligence chief makes a written request/appeal to Mr President outlining whatever urgent and critical security needs of the nation they consider imminently paramount, at any given point in time.
“If such a request received the approval of the president, the president may direct that the requested funds be drawn from a security budget maintained by NNPC, or that the funds be sourced from elsewhere.
“Where the president directs the minister of petroleum resources, in writing, to make the payment from the NNPC, the minister in turn, directs the GMD NNPC in writing to execute the directive of the president.
“NNPC then wires the funds from one of its major foreign bank accounts, or from the CBN, directly to the stipulated account of the particular branch of the armed services, or intelligence unit, or department, that initiated the request."
According to her, it is not within the powers of any minister to question, flout or disregard the written directives of the president.
“It is therefore, impossible and implausible, for any monies under such presidential directives to be diverted during the process, at least from the standpoint of the minister.
“Any and all amounts approved and directed by Mr President to be paid, were executed exclusively by NNPC, directly from NNPC’s foreign and or, Central Bank of Nigeria accounts, to the stated recipients.
“Therefore, let it be very clear, that all funds disbursed by these banking institutions on behalf of NNPC are easily and openly traceable, and the process cannot and should not be utilised for the distortion of facts, vendetta or political mischief," she added.
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Recall that NAIJ.com previously reported that Diezani Alison-Madueke was linked to a fresh corruption scandal as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission discovered an unauthorised withdrawal of $1.3 billion from the NNPC’s account.
The money was reportedly withdrawn without the approval of the National Assembly or the Federal Executive Council (FEC), under the guise of using it to fight kidnapping and other security threats in Nigeria.
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Source: Naija.ng