Okonjo-Iweala, Alison-Madueke, others'absence stalls probe of NNPC

The much publicised probe of theNigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the House of Representatives, over an alleged non-remittance of N450 billion into the Federation Account, suffered a major setback on Tuesday, following the failure of the Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and her Petroleum Resources counterpart, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke to appear before the House investigative panel.Others who failed to honour the invitation are the Accountant General of the Federation, Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the head of Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).The House had, however, threatened that it would not hesitate to invoke Section 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which gives it powers to issue a warrant of arrest on anybody should the need arise.The House, had on September 22, 2011, mandated a committee to carry out a probe, through a resolution on a motion brought on the floor by the Minority Whip, Honourable Samson Osagie, on the alleged NNPC's indebtedness to the Federation Account, to the tune of N450 billion, a development which he said stalled the monthly sharing of funds to the three tiers of government in the month of August, 2011.Subsequently, the committee has postponed the public hearing till November 1 to enable the relevant and key figures in the probe to attend and make presentations that would assist the committee in carrying out its work.
Click here to read full news..