Ribadu, opposition presidential candidate gets Federal job

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, has been appointed as the Chairman of a Special Task Force saddled with the job of enhancing probity and accountability in operations of the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.

PM NEWS cannot confirm if the retired Assistant Inspector General of Police has accepted the appointment as at the time of filing in this story. He was said to have jetted out to Afghanistan where he is carrying out some assignment for the United Nations.

But sources told P.M.NEWS that Ribadu has accepted the job offer, creating some disquiet in the ACN, where there is the rule forbidding members from taking Federal appointments.

The appointment of the former anti graft agency chief was contained in a press release made available to PM NEWS this evening signed by Mallam Goni M. Sheikh, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources on behalf of Mrs. Dieziani Allison, the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The Task Force, as stated in the press release was set up in response to “the yearnings of people of Nigeria for transparency in the petroleum industry”.
Ribadu will head a 20 man task force team which other members include former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsanye, Mallam Abba Kyari, Ms. Benedicta Molokwu, Dr. (Mrs) Omolara Akanji, Mr. Ituah Ighodalo, Mr. Bon Oti, Mallam Samaila Zubairu, Mr. Ignatius Adegunle, and Mr. Gerald Ilukwe. Also in the team are Mr. Supo Sasore, Mr. Tony Idigbe, Mr. Anthony George Ikoli, and Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
The task force will also have representatives of Federal Inland Revenue Service, Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Department of Petroleum Resources, and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation as ex officio members.
As contained in the press release, the task force is saddled with the task of working with consultants and experts to determine and verify all revenues due to Federal Government in form of taxes, royalties, etc, from the upstream and downstream sector of the oil industry, to take necessary steps to collect all the debts due for payment and enforce payment terms by government and to design a cross debt matrix between all agencies and parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The Task Force is also mandated to develop an automated platform to enable effective tracking, monitoring and online validation of income from the parastatals and agencies in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and to work with world class consultants to integrate systems and technology across the production chains to determine and monitor oil production and exports, ensuring at all times the integrity of payment to the Federal Government of Nigeria.