The Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has sued the APC and 10 other individuals
and organizations to restrain them from further reporting on the controversial
missing $20billion oil money involving the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC.
In an application before
Justice AFA Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s
lawyer, Godwin Obla, from Obla & Co., sought and obtained an interim
injunction restraining the APC,PREMIUM TIMES and 9 others from “publishing or causing to be
published any further defamatory statements” stating or suggesting that the
minister “stole, misappropriate or colluded in the stealing of $20billion crude
oil revenue”.
In the application dated March
13, 2015, Mr. Obla warned the persons and organisations to desist from “further
publishing any disparaging defamatory or otherwise salacious materia (sic) as
it relates to or affects our client.”
Those listed as defendants in
the case are the All Progressives Congress, APC, Vanguard Media Limited and its
editor, Mideno Bayagbon; Leadership Newspapers Group Limited and its editor
Ekele Peter Agbo; Premium Times Services Limited and its editor in chief, Dapo
Olorunyomi, and Vintage Press Limited and its editor, Lekan Otufodunrin.
Also joined in the application
were the National Broadcasting Corporation and the Nigerian Press Council.
The Court directed the two
government regulators to ensure Mrs. Alison-Madueke is not linked in any report
regarding the alleged missing $20 billion either on broadcast media, internet,
print or radio.
The court specifically ordered
the media houses to “desist from publishing any materials or running any
programmme alluding to the complicity or collusion” the minister in respect of
“$20billion, $49billion or any other figure, howsoever computed or arrived at,
which are purportedly/allegedly missing or ‘unaccounted’ for”.
“You are hereby advised to
immediately ensure total compliance with the Order of the Hon. Justice Ademola
and to further cease and desist forthwith from publishing any material,
howsoever titled or presented and irrespective of its form and content, which
alludes to any amorous, immoral, salacious and defamatory matters connected to
or related with our client, including anything to do with any allegation(s) or
insinuation that our client colluded, was involved with or is complicit in the
matter of a purportedly/allegedly missing $20billion, $49billion or any other
amount whatsoever, until the determination of the substantive suit,” it stated.
Warning that compliance to the
court order was not discretionary, but mandatory, Mr. Obla said that any
attempt to do otherwise would be tantamount to flouting a subsisting order of a
competent court.
“Failure to heed or give
effect to the subsisting orders of the court will lead to the full force of the
law being brought to bear upon your organization,” he said.
The missing $20 billion oil
money was first raised by former Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, who
accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of not accounting
for the amount.
As petroleum minister, Mrs. Alison-Madueke
is the chairperson of the board of the NNPC.
While the government denied
that funds were missing, it ordered a forensic audit of the NNPC, carried out
by PriceWaterHouseCoopers Limited.
Several months after the
completion of the audit, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the report be
withheld.
Last month, Mrs.
Alison-Madueke told the Financial Times of London that the government was
sitting on the report to ensure a “rabid” opposition does not exploit every of
its detail to ridicule the government ahead of crucial polls March 28.
Under immense pressure from
Nigerians, the government released a “highlight” of the report, which indeed
proved the NNPC was indebted to the government, but at a much lower rate of
$1.49billion.
The petroleum minister has
since directed the NNPC to pay the money to the federation account.
Notwithstanding, many
Nigerians have continued to demand the release of the full report.
The minister and her finance
counterpart, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have repeatedly flouted the directives of the
House of Representatives that the report be made public.
Source-PT
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