By George Mgbeleke

The Federal Ministry of Finance Thursday accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL) , of not making available , financial records it would have used to answer queries raised against it in the
2021 to 2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit report by Nigeria Extractive Industry Tranency Initiative ( NEITI).

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Raymond Omachi made the allegation when being interrogated by Senate Committee on Public Accounts on several financial infractions raised against the Ministry in the NEITI audit findings .

One of the infractions as contained in the report, was the pre – export financing $3billion loan taken in 2012 to settle subsidy payment which according to NEITI , recovery of the loan from monthly Federation revenue proceeds under pre -export financing and project eagle agreement remains unclear .

Another query raised against the Ministry by NEITI is that ” In 2021, the sum of $722.6 million was paid to NNPC by Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas ( NLNG) as dividend and interest earned by Federation but was neither remitted to the Federation nor properly accounted for .

Observation made by NEITI that in 2021 , none of the refineries was operational despite N200billion spent on them , couldn’t be answered by the Ministry just as it could not provide answer to $221.283million overhead costs incured by by NAPIMS in 2021.

In his response to the queries , the Permanent Secretary said the Ministry was not directly involved in all the dealings or transactions and that the agencies involved , particularly the NNPCL, has refused to cooperate with it in terms of accurate records .

” We don’t have direct involvement in all the issues raised and required provision of financial records from the affected agencies , particularly NNPCL, NUPRC etc , is not there .

” In resolving the financial issues , we have engaged a reputable external audit firm ,
Arthur Andersen LLP to carry out forensic audit on all the transactions for required reconciliation “, he said .

But the committee chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwabo ( Gombe North) , took him up on when report on the forensic audit would be ready after extending it twice 6 months to one year.

He however insisted that NNPCL and NUPRC , should be made to be at the same session with Ministry of Finance over the issues .

He said : ““I I know you have enormous powers that you can use to compel these agencies to appear before us. We are having challenges bringing them to the table so that we can resolve these issues.

“We in the Federal Ministry of Finance are ready to come and sit with them here, so that you can hear directly from them and obtain the necessary explanations and clarifications”.

But the Chairman of the Committee told the permanent secretary to arrange the meeting with the affected agencies as issues involved are not only being followed in Nigeria but internationally .

“I will like you to review the internal report and arrange a meeting involving the Ministry of Finance, the NUPRC, NNPC and any other agency whose participation is necessary to resolve the issues we have raised.

“As you are aware, these issues are being followed by the international community. They are not matters confined to Nigeria; they are in the public domain and are being monitored by people across the world.

“Therefore, if there are records or issues that need to be clarified and properly put in order, we should do so in the interest of our country. All of us have no other country except Nigeria”, he said .

By Our Correspondent

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday commenced the distribution of reprinted ballot papers and result sheets to agents of all participating political parties across the 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Osun State ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

The exercise commenced at the Commission’s state office in Osogbo on Thursday night, following INEC’s compliance with a Federal High Court judgment ordering the inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, Dr. Francis Olugbenga Ajala, and his running mate, Faseke Babajimi Oladipo, in the election.

The Federal High Court, Abuja, had on July 22, 2026, delivered judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/344/2026, directing INEC to recognise, accept, upload, process and publish Ajala’s candidature for the August 15 governorship election.

INEC complied with the judgment on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, leading to the reproduction of the ballot papers and relevant result sheets to reflect the inclusion of the SDP candidates.

The reprinted materials were subsequently moved to the Osun State INEC office in Osogbo, where agents of the participating political parties gathered on Thursday night to witness the distribution process.

Speaking to journalists at the venue, the Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Oluwatoyin O. Babalola, explained that the exercise would commence with the signing of the result sheets by the party agents before the distribution of the materials to the respective Local Government Areas.

Babalola said the materials had already been customised according to the polling units for which they were intended, with the names of the polling units clearly indicated on the documents.

“Everything is going to be customised. Believe it. All the results, they already have the name of the polling units on them,” the REC told journalists.

She explained that the customisation was intended to ensure that the materials could be properly identified and matched with their designated polling units during the electoral process.

According to her, the signing by party agents was an important part of the documentation process preceding the distribution of the materials.

“If you are signing, you see what happened,” she said, while explaining the procedure to the agents and journalists at the venue.

The REC also indicated that the materials had been prepared in a manner that would allow the Commission and the political parties to keep track of the documents allocated to the various areas.

The exercise was not, however, a distribution of the materials directly to polling units.

Rather, the reprinted ballot papers and result sheets were being distributed to agents of the participating political parties for the respective 30 Local Government Areas of Osun State.

The party agents were present at the INEC office to witness the process, beginning with the signing of the result sheets before the materials were handed over for the respective Local Government Areas.

By George Mgbeleke

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has vowed to introduce a new political culture anchored on ethics, accountability and responsible governance, declaring that politics without morality amounts to organised criminality.

ADC made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during a media engagement on its “Orange Book: Governance Principles and Code of Ethics”, which it said was developed to provide a binding framework for its elected and appointed officials.

Giving insights on the details of he document, The ADC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said the initiative was part of the party’s effort to demonstrate how it intends to govern differently from existing political parties and restore public confidence in Nigeria’s political system.

He said the coalition that birthed the ADC was founded on the realisation that Nigeria’s challenges were largely connected to the nature of politics being practised in the country.

According to him, “If we are to solve the problem that Nigeria is facing, we have to play a different kind of politics.”

He said the party had therefore decided to develop governance principles and a code of ethics that would guide its members and provide Nigerians with the basis for holding elected officials accountable.

On the Code of Ethics, the spokesman said the document was particularly important because Nigerians had increasingly come to believe that morality and politics could not coexist.

“Politics gives people licence to tell lies, to behave badly, to do whatever they like. ADC is saying no,” he declared.

He described politics without ethics as “organised criminality and organised crime,” arguing that political leadership must be governed by the highest standards of morality, transparency and accountability.

The spokesman described the document as a new standard in Nigerian politics, “a reformist progressive ideology” noting that political parties since 1999 had largely failed to establish a comprehensive ethical framework capable of binding their elected officials.

He said an ADC senators, members of the House of Representatives, state legislators, governors or president would be expected to operate within the principles contained in the document.

He stressed that elected officials would not be permitted to hide behind the party or claim that their actions were personal decisions.

“Politics and politicians in Nigeria have become widely discredited. Nigeria has become a country that does not reward good behaviour and does not punish bad behaviour,” he said.

The ADC spokesman said the party’s approach was designed to reverse that culture by making ethical conduct an integral part of political leadership.

He added that the party’s National Chairman, Senator David Mark, had been a major driving force behind the initiative, saying Mark had consistently advocated the emergence of a new generation of Nigerian politicians who would regard politics as a vehicle for public service rather than personal enrichment.

Quoting the party chairman, he said the objective was to establish “a standard to support a process that will produce a successor generation of Nigerian politicians that would believe that politics is for a purpose, not for self-aggrandisement.”

The party also used the occasion to highlight its proposed policy on abandoned government projects.

It added that the principle would also apply to legislative programmes, explaining that an ADC legislator who takes over from another party member would be required to continue viable bills and legislative initiatives already adopted as part of the party’s agenda.

According to him, this would help reverse the situation in which Nigeria has become “a graveyard of abandoned projects.”

He said the ADC recognised the challenges posed by systemic corruption, impunity and declining public trust and had consequently presented the Code of Ethics as “a binding covenant” between the party and Nigerians.

He disclosed that the party’s three presidential aspirants had not only signed the code but also sworn an oath committing themselves to its provisions.

The spokesman said the code would impose personal responsibility on every elected or appointed ADC official, stressing that no official would be allowed to shift responsibility for misconduct to the party.

Among the commitments contained in the code, he said, was a pledge by officials not to use public office to enrich themselves, their families or associates.

He quoted the code as stating: “I shall never use my position to enrich myself, my family, or my associates.”

Officials would also be required to live within their means and ensure that their personal lifestyles reflected legitimate sources of income.

The spokesman said the provisions were intended to empower party members and Nigerians to challenge conduct inconsistent with the party’s promises.

“When you see an ADC official in a 14-vehicle convoy, you have a right, as an ADC member, to say, ‘No. This is not what we promised. We said it will be different,’” he said.

Also in his remarks, National Legal Adviser of he party, Prof. Oserheimen Osumbo said that the party will embark all legislative frame work to ensure the commitments in the “The Orange Book” are enforceable.

He said, “We need serious-minded people to ensure that these provisions of the constitution are respected and not treated with levity or as a joke. The way they can do that is by giving their votes to ADC legislators, ADC executives, and so forth and so on, so that we can have the ability to amend the constitution where necessary, to implement the constitution as both the spirit and the letter of the constitution must be respected.

“You need people with the right ethical credentials, the right kind of conduct to know that these things must not be treated with levity, and they must be respected. That is why we are launching this code of ethics. It is a standard, and we expect that all elected officers of ADC live up to this ethical code.

“Where fresh legislation is demanded, because they cannot be enforced. I consider that point that you cannot go to court to enforce it because it’s an ethical standard. It is not a law. So you need to transform this code of ethics into legislation.”

The event was attended by the leaders of he party including Hon. CID Maduabum and other stakeholders.