President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged not to ignore the growing calls for the sanitisation of the Nigerian Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The proponents of reorganising NUPRC said the ongoing federal government appraisal of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to mark the president’s one year in office provides an opportunity to spotlight the commission’s activities.
The latest call for the probe of NUPRC came from the Citizens Awareness Against Corruption And Social Vices Initiative (CAACASVI).
The group is critical in the fight against corruption and promotes transparency in public life.
It said following repeated allegations against the operations of NUPRC by concerned and patriotic Nigerians, it conducted an investigation and believed that the calls for a probe of the agency were not ill-motivated.
Engr Gbenga Komolafe heads the commission’s management.
In a press release signed by Comrade Danesi Momoh, Dr Abdulquadir Lawal, and Ambassador Olukolade Akindele, respectively, head of publicity, director of research and documentation, and director of mobilisation and logistics of CAACASVI in Abuja, the group decried the alleged mess in NUPRC and urged the president to act swiftly and sanitise the commission.
They said, “As an agency that monitors the oil and gas industry to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and laws, as well as oversees the safety and other rules that relate to the exportation and importation of petroleum products into the country, the enormity of the commission’s responsibility is well underscored, and its strategic importance to the economy cannot be over-emphasised.
“It is on this note that we invite our colleagues from other civil society organisations to join us on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, as we peacefully march to the Pilot Gate of the Presidential Villa to submit our petition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, detailing the wrongdoing of NUPRC,” they stated.
The group expressed confidence in Tinubu’s determination to return the country to the right track of sanity, decency, productivity, and economic recovery.
They vow to push against every obstacle that may hinder them from reaching Mr President, knowing fully well that those benefiting from the situation in NUPRC will fight to prevent them from exposing their actions and to avert the president’s fury.
“Contrary to the paid media hype about some regulations introduced to achieve global best practices in the oil and gas industry in NUPRC, there is a disturbing weakness and lack of will to implement these regulations. This inability is a function of pursuing selfish interests and covert agendas.
“While Mr President and Nigerians are deceived about environmental-friendly regulations and monetisation of gas flares, widespread environmental degradation is ongoing, and the government loses a lot of revenue due to compromised regulatory oversight.
“The purported partnership with the Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to fight corruption is another grand deceit because such partnership only intends to find occasional low-level scapegoats. In reality, implementing the anti-corruption legal framework is deliberately and consciously feeble”, the statement noted.
The group called on Tinubu to ask Komolafe to step aside to avoid interference in the commission’s forensic audit. CAACASVI reiterated that the current administration, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, can’t afford to tolerate individuals who clog the wheel of Nigeria’s progress.