A civil rights group, Anti Corruption Network, ACN, on Friday, disclosed that 96 civil society organisations will participate in a protest against the alleged missing $20 billion belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
According to ACN, the groups are set for the rally and would not be intimidated by the security agencies.
Its Executive Secretary and a former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, who stated this at a news briefing in Abuja, asked the Federal Government to make public the name of the auditing firm engaged to conduct the forensic audit of the accounts of NNPC.
Melaye posited that releasing the name would enable the citizens check whether or not “it is a reputable firm with capacity to creditably perform the task”.
He called on the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to step down for a transparent exercise to be conducted.
The former lawmaker also demanded that the NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu, should ousted like the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
“President Goodluck Jonathan, when you see a snake, kill it. You don’t need to set up a committee to find out if it is a lizard; just kill it. Never shall we keep quiet over issues that will determine the future of our children.
“This is about systematic corruption in our national treasury. We will prove that power truly belongs to the people, time for change is now”, Melaye said.
He reminded police authorities that relevant court judgments had already ruled out securing of a police permit before any peaceful protest could be held.
Melaye further faulted the claim by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that she was not aware of subsidy deductions, adding that the ACN believes that the NNPC and its subsidiaries were “colossus of corruption”.
