A number of analysts have criticised the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to probe her ministry in the management of the controversial fuel subsidy.

The minister, upon the approval of Mr President had invited the anti graft agency to probe activities of her ministry regarding fuel subsidy management and said she will set up a committee to work with the agency to discharge their duties along other measures being taken to respond to the issue of corruption in the petroleum ministry.

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has joined other analysts, which faulted the minister’s move, saying she cannot preside over her own case since it is her ministry that is being investigated, but rather called for an independent body to institute such a probe.

The Benin city-based non-governmental organisation, NGO in a statement made available to Vanguard on Tuesday, titled, Diezani Madueke: “You Cannot Be a Judge in Your Case,” wondered what would be the outcome of such a probe?

The Executive Director, ANEEJ, Mr. David Ugolor, said in the statement, “I find this absurd and cannot understand what is happening in this country anymore. It is an irony that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison Madueke whose ministry is accused of corruption is the same person setting up the probe into her ministry.”

He further said that, “Nigerians cannot be fooled by this charade called probe in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. In law, you cannot be a judge in your own case. That is what Diezani Alison Madueke seems to be doing right now. We think that it is in her interest for an independent body to look into the books she supervised.

This, in our view is important against the backdrop of allegations by the National Assembly that the petroleum ministry paid out more billions of Naira on PMS subsidy than was approved for it in the 2011 budget.”

Besides, the NGO argued that it is the Ministry of Finance or the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI that should take the lead in investigating the subsidy scam and not the petroleum ministry.

Moreover, in the light of the revelations of the forensic audit by the KPMG and another Nigerian auditing firm, S.S. Afemikhe & Co, who looked into the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the NGO argued that the purpose of the audit is with a view to implementing the recommendations and sanctioning proven acts of corruption in the industry.