As the Presidency promises to track down and prosecute all indicted oil marketers, there are reports that President Goodluck Jonathan has shunned attempts by some marketers to meet him, even as he was said to have warned his aides against dealing with the indicted marketers.
It would be recalled that the president, represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, had openly declared during the public presentation of a book, “Reforming the Unreformable: Lessons from Nigeria” written by Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela that “we are going after all those who commit various economic crimes and corrupt practices with impunity. As you are aware, government is taking every legal measure to ensure that those who defraud the government in the petroleum subsidy scheme are made to pay back the stolen fund and are also severely dealt with”.
Checks revealed that the marketers have adopted several strategies in response to the renewed war against corruption in the subsidy regime. The first key strategy is to reach out to people in government who they consider were allies to assist them in sabotaging government’s efforts to prosecute them and compel them to recover funds which were obtained fraudulently. This strategy, it was learnt, is not working because of the new posture Villa adopted against corruption.
Sensing that this plan is not making progress, the kingpin of the marketers who has been described as the “poster boy of corruption in subsidy” it was also gathered adopted the strategy of personalising the fight by launching vicious attacks on members of the Presidential Committee that originally identified and detailed the fraud as it affects individual marketers.