The Ministry of Petroleum Resources says recent allegations of corruption in the ministry actually predated the Buhari Administration.
The ministry said in a statement yesterday that contrary to social and traditional media reports, the alleged corrupt acts were perpetrated before the present administration assumed power.
Mr. Garba Deen Muhammad,the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said in a statement that that while it is true that the Auditor General raised observations on infractions committed by the ministry “these infractions related to the 2015 accounts of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.”
He said: “It should further be noted that these infractions appeared in the 2015 report of the Auditor General for the federation which is presently under consideration by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Senate.”
Muhammad said the indicted officers have “since been retired or redeployed out of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in line with the practice in the civil service.”
Besides, he said the officers involved have been “under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).”
