In a letter to the Senate dated March 16, President Olusegun Obasanjo explained how he spent the N20 billion Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
His explanation is contained in a letter to the Senate dated March 16, following an invitation by the Upper House to prove his innocence in the PTDF scandal.
The eight-page response by the President details how and why he approved about N20 billion of the PTDF on specific technology-related projects.
Obasanjo’s letter was addressed to the Chairman of the Senate Review Committee on the PTDF, Senator Ibrahim Tsauri. However, it did not indicate whether the President wished to make any physical appearance at the Senate.
The senate review panel on the PTDF probe has summoned the major dramatis personae in the scandal to appear before it on Monday.
After going down memory lane on the reason for the 1973 Act that established the Fund, Obasanjo admitted that he approved about N20 billion for sundry projects, although N10 billion was actually released to the PTDF.
Even then, he stressed that only about N4.6 billion has been paid to various contractors for the projects and challenged the lawmakers to undertake an on-site verification of his claims.
Obasanjo said: "I approved the sum of N20 billion for various projects listed therein. Disbursement is handled by the Accountant General of the Federation. I have now confirmed that only N10 billion was released to the PTDF. And out of the amount released, only about N4.6 billion has been paid to various contractors for the projects.
"There is therefore no iota of truth in the wild allegation that the funds released were diverted to any purpose other than the specific projects approved for. I hope the Review Committee will be able to physically verify these projects and payments to debunk this irresponsible and false allegation".
On the African Institute of Science and Technology (AIST), for which PTDF money was voted, Obasanjo said it was not a government-owned university and therefore, did not require an Act of the National Assembly to exist. He said it had been incorporated in Nigeria, and licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to commence operation as a University.
He also explained that the funds approved for the Computer-for-all-Nigerians Initiative (CANI) were in furtherance of government’s intention "to accelerate the bridging of the digital divide between the public and private sectors of Nigeria on the one hand, and with the likes of Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron that are operating within our oil and gas industry and communicating with civil servants in the cause of their daily operations," on the other hand.
Obasanjo added: "The interpretation and application of any law related to any field of science or technology, passed in 1973, without taking cognizance of developments in ICT and impact on the education, training and capacity building will lead to absurd results. In interpreting this law, looking at the narrow meaning of the literal words of the Act are unhelpful. Interpretation must begin with deriving the intention of the legislature."
He referred to the Galaxy Backbone firm incorporated with part of the PTDF funds, saying it was meant to develop a national ICT super highway as done in other nations, and to cease duplication of efforts by several government agencies and state governments in that regard.
His words: "The network would be a shared resource for all arms of government, including all academic institutions such as: Petroleum Training Institutes, all universities and colleges where potential oil industry manpower are being trained. The availability of this backbone allows Nigerians access to information on any subject of which the oil and gas is one of the most important."
The president explained how payment for this was effected thus: "When I received the bill for these services from the Executive Secretary of the PTDF, I sought the Attorney-General’s view.
"He considered that the cost was reasonable at N300 million consistent with the scope of the advisory services, the professional charges involving work of this nature, and the level of expertise required as well as the standing of Counsel. In spite of that advice, I still reduced the charges by N50 million."
On the aspect of alleged fabrication of rifle by the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) at a cost of N1billion, Obasanjo said: "The one billion Naira (N1 billion) was released, not only to fabricate and produce replacement parts for the oil and gas industry, but to make Nigeria self-sufficient in small arms ammunition production by September 2007, and in small arms production by September 2008. The total amount expended so far out of N1 billion released is N364, 106,201.00.
"Since the development of the indigenous assault rifle code-named OBJ-006 was started in February 2006, months before my September 2006 visit and the subsequent intervention of the PTDF, only N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) from DICON’s overhead cost was spent on the development of the rifle and eleven prototypes. Code-name apart, DICON should be commended for the initiative to produce a Nigerian assault rifle from local materials and expertise."
The president also enjoined the senate probe committee members to visit DICON in Kaduna to verify his claims..