Senate committee never cleared Diezani, NNPC- Saraki

THE vice chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Bukola Saraki, said on Thursday, that the committee did not absolve the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison- Madueke and the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of any wrongdoing in the report submitted to the upper chamber on Wednesday. Saraki, representing Kwara Central, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Bankole Omishore, maintained that as an active member of the committee, the report actually indicted the minister and the NNPC. Saraki said: “Though I could not attend the last meeting of the committee, I have been very active in the investigation and nothing significant has changed to suggest clearing anybody. “I can say on behalf of the committee that these media reports bear no correlation to the content of the Senate committee report and I would urge the public to disregard it in its entirety. “The committee is yet to receive the report on the forensic audit and independent analysis on the subject clearly indicated we have a lot of grounds to cover in order to determine the level of culpability or otherwise of agency on the alleged non-committal. “Therefore, to suggest any clearance for anybody at this stage is out of the question. I will further advise that the media should wait for the Senate to release the details of the committee report to the public before they jump into spurious conclusions.”