Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state, yesterday, blamed the presidency over the delay in the investigation of oil subsidy scandal, saying that the investigation into the scandal should have come earlier.
Meantime, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka and the Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economics, Oxford University, Prof. Paul Collier tasked the Federal Government to adopt the Rwanda system of government administration.
Fashola who made the remarks at the two-day Kuramo Conference, 2012 themed: ‘The Global Common Wealth’ held in Lagos, said that the executive failed to do its job on the fuel subsidy scandal.
He stressed that the legislature should not have been the first to look at the report but rather, the executive has the responsibility to conduct investigation on the scandal.
According to him, “This is because the executive has the responsibility for law enforcement in Nigeria. And anyone found to be implicated during the investigation should have been dismissed immediately. That was why I said that any public office holder that abuses his office should face severe punishment that is available by law.”
The governor emphasised that the oil sector was the most vulnerable sector of the country’s economy, adding, “it is where the major source of revenue of the country comes from.”
On Trade, Fashola advised African countries to engage themselves more in trade in order to fast track the development and prosperity of the continent.
He said that the continent needed to look inwards for answers to some of her economic challenges.
The governor observed that most African countries preferred doing business with the West and Asia, saying the situation had not really helped the economic development of the continent.
Speaking earlier, Collier said that the Federal Government has a huge challenge in managing the country’s oil sector effectively, adding “there are three features lacking in the management of oil sector in the country.”
Soyinka, who chaired the conference, said the downturn in the economies of a number of developed countries should serve as an opportunity for Africa to develop her economy.
He urged leaders address some of the factors responsible for the economic woes over the years, and begin to reposition the continent for greatness.
Soyinka said if China was able to transform her economy to the second largest in the world in a decade, it was possible for Africa to do the same.
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