�Oil wealth mismanaged�

He made this view known at the commencement of the public sitting by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries since 1999 in Abuja.

But Ajumogobia said he could not speak for any of his predecessors because the handover note he received when he assumed office in 2007 was not detailed enough to help him grapple with all issues he was asked to shed light on.

�Having been inaugurated on July 26, 2007, I was not privy to the issues that are the subject of this inquiry,� he told the committee.

The minister, who flew in from an oversea trip on Wednesday morning, promised to return to appear again with fuller explanations in line with the terms of reference issued.

Ajumogobia said he would be the first person to admit that the Department of Petroleum Resources had been ineffective in the discharge of its functions which include the conduct of oil block bid rounds, collection of royalties, bid fees, creation of data for the industry and the provision of technical support for the ministry.

He noted that lack of proper funding and equipment were obvious handicaps for the DPR.

Ajumogobia said since he was not guided by any handover note from his predecessor, he was influenced by President Umaru Yar�Adua�s vision for the oil sector.

He said, �The DPR enforces laws and regulations, advises the minister on policies relating to the petroleum sector, collect fees and create data.

�Has it then performed given its mandate? I will be the first to say no. Some of the lapses are not as a result of direct malfeasance, but with budgetary constraints.�

The minister, who also explained that bureaucracy was part of the rot in NAPIMS, said it would take a minimum of 24 months to execute any of its contracts.

The DPR, which was the first agency the panel began its enquiry on, had difficulties explaining how the oil bid rounds for 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 were conducted.

Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, while declaring the hearing open, reminded those invited that the House was carrying out the assignment as empowered by Section 88 (2) of the 1999 Constitution.

The section gives the House the power to carry out any investigation aimed at helping it in its legislative functions or exposing corruption in public institutions.

While assuring that nobody would be witch-hunted, he raised three posers, �Are we managing our oil resources well?; Are there wastes in the system?, and are our processes compliant and sacrosanct?�

Ajumogobia, who was the first to speak after Bankole, answered the three questions in the negative.

He said that the 2006 oil block bid round was more ambitious than that of previous years. According to him, the bid was geared toward developing the downstream sector.

The minister regretted that the 2006 bid rounds could not achieve its objective of making the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited to work optimally.

A member of the committee, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, noted that some companies bid and won oil blocks after the exercise had been completed.

The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Igo Aguma, told the minister that some foreign-based firms won oil blocks before they came to Nigeria to register as a companies.

Another member, Mr. John Agoda, said the committee, discovered that the guidelines were not adhered to as some companies never produced or provided technical partners, and yet got oil blocks.

Mr. Tony Chukwueke, the DPR director who is on compulsory leave, had a hectic time as he failed to answer questions from the committee that needed yes, no, or simple answers.

One of such questions was on expatriate companies complying with Companies and Allied Matters Act which required them to register before being adjudged qualified to do business in the country.

But Chukwueke saw things differently, a situation that heightened proceedings.

Later he accepted that not all companies that took part in the bid rounds in 2005 were registered in Nigeria. He added that those that won oil acreage and currently doing business in the country were registered.

Bid for oil blocks started in 2000 in line with the Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiatives, as against oil ministers using their discretionary powers to allocate the blocks.

Only 20 out of the 70 companies that took part in the bids since 2000 showed up at the public sitting. The absentee firms were given till Thursday (today) to appear or lose the chance of defending themselves.