Ex-agitators in the Niger Delta have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate allegations that crude oil was sold upfront and the money taken away towards the end of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former agitators said the development was part of the reasons for the foreign exchange crisis and the worsening inflation being experienced in the country.
The National Secretary, First Phase ex-Agitators, Nature Dumale, stated this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Dumale urged Tinubu to investigate the allegation that crude oil was sold three years in advance shortly before he assumed office.
He said should the President fail to probe the allegation, the ex-agitators would send a petition to the International Court of Justice to come to the rescue of the people.
He said, “We want President Tinubu to investigate the NNPCL and the oil and gas sector. Why did the last administration sell petroleum products upfront and take the money away? Why did they leave Nigeria indebted? It is affecting our foreign exchange and that is why we are having a dollar crisis.
“We are calling on President Tinubu to do the needful because Nigerians are behind him. He needs to set a track record and he needs to do something that Nigerians will remember him for.
“The allegation is everywhere that former President Buhari sold crude oil three years ahead of time. Was Buhari aware of this? Or was it done by the cabal around him?
“People are dying every day because of the rising inflation. If nothing is done, we will write to the International Court of Justice because this is the height of injustice against our people.”
Dumale said it was lamentable that despite selling crude oil, Nigeria was having difficulty earning foreign currencies.
He appealed to Tinubu to unveil the identities of all politicians, corporate organisations and contractors indicted in the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
He said such a report developed with billions of Niger Delta money should not be swept under the carpet, pointing out that failure to prosecute indicted persons would only encourage corruption in the country.
“There is a forensic audit report carried out by the NDDC. Billions of naira were spent to develop the report; politicians and businessmen were indicted in that report. But up till now, they have not brought anybody to book. How will people be afraid and why will people not continue to loot the treasure of the country? How will people not continue to amass wealth that they and their sixth generation cannot use? That is why we need to stop it,” he said.
