Irked by the spate of fraud in various sectors of the economy, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, yesterday challenged the National Assembly and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, to probe the exact figure of the alleged missing oil revenue.
He said whether the exact figure is N45 billion or $10 billion, “no amount of public revenue is too meagre, urging Nigerians, especially the lawmakers and chattered accountants to probe the claim of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, over the exact missing revenue.”
Disturbed by the continuous loss of lives resulting from corruption and lack of vision to develop a better transportation system, the governor lampooned the Federal Government over its inability to develop a better transportation system for fuel transportation within the country.
He said that in spite of the huge revenue made from oil, Nigeria is one of the few oil producing nations of the world still transporting fuel with trucks through the cities.
Fashola spoke after inspecting a number of ongoing projects which include Igbogbo Housing Estate, the ongoing rehabilitation of Awolowo Road in Ikorodu, among others.
He said: “It is really tragic. I just feel diminished by the fact that we lost lives again when they were avoidable. And everyone must take his own share of responsibility on this issue. Why in this age and time that we are still one of the few oil producing nations in the world still transporting fuel with trucks through the cities?
“There isn’t a rocket sign about restoring the old rail tracks. If the rail is working as they say, then we should begin to use it to transport our petroleum products rather than use the roads. It will save the roads and fuel. And it will help us.
“The tanker owners can then buy wagons; it is the same mentality and philosophy.
People who trade by the road side must also change their model of trade. Fashola decried the waste and corruption in the NNPC, saying if the money realised from oil were judiciously used, those who died in the Tuesday inferno in Apapa and other part of the country wouldn’t have died.
He added: “When one look at the waste in the NNPC, now we are talking about the N45 billion that was missing. They seem to be quite satisfied to tell us that it was only $10 billion that was missing, that was a lot of money. One dollar of public money is a lot of money. “But later they told us that they spent the money actually.
Now serious questions must be asked by the National Assembly, ICAN and Nigerians that who appropriated the money? Was it spent during the period that the CBN governor said that they didn’t account for the money or was it before? “And if there was appropriation for it, then we can now begin to seriously talk that were they the right places to spend the money?
Given that if we had spent $10 billion to try and build rail, evacuating fuel from Apapa and Tin Can Island, maybe those people wouldn’t have died. They are serious questions. “First was that the priority, were those the things to spend them on assuming there was appropriation.
They are serious questions that we all must ask at this moment. “The inferno is a tragedy. I couldn’t find a word to express how sad I feel, especially at this time of this year. We saw the same thing in Zamfara State.
It is a year that has started on a bad and sad note. It is a very painful and sad note for the families. And our hearts goes out to them. The governor, however, said the Federal Government, state and local governments and the citizens must resolve this year to change those things that they don’t like. “Those are the value choices that have been agitated for.
The choices that we make as a people, there is need for us to question it again. Are they the right choices, are they beneficial to all concerned, do they bring good will and better friendship and others,” Fashola queried.
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