All things considered, the scandal confronting us from this Oil Audit, shouldn’t be wholly surprising. For that which we face, is an Exxon over inflated expense claim, standing at US$1.7B. Where IHS-Markit, a British Audit Consultancy, offered this unambiguous advice to the corruptible PPP. Dispute US$214M of the claimed US$1.7B. Nevertheless, against this advice, the most astounding transpired. Jagdeo reported that our US$214M, was inexplicably whittled down to US$3M.
However, the corrupt US$211M scandal, was ultimately leaked, forcing Jagdeo to do what he does best; concoct naked lies. And a barefaced liar is he, shifting blame onto GRA’s doorstep, for this reduction. But GRA repudiated his assertion with evidence, proving that the Natural Resource Ministry was written to twice, advising that the audit should close at US$214M.
Thus, caught with his underpants at his ankles, the shameless Jagdeo turned to his underling Vickram Bharat, to fabricate a most outrageous lie. And a most outrageous lie was his, alleging rogue staff within his Petroleum Unit, were responsible for the “unauthorised” reduction of the US$214M disputed amount. Then with a poker face, he reassured that the rogue member of the unit has since been identified, to be reprimanded. And that’s what PPP did, in scapegoating Gopnauth Gossai.
However, none believed this narrative, seeing it for what it’s, another barefaced lie. But that didn’t stop Jagdeo from expressing more toddler-level lies. For he then informed the now laughing nation, Gossai will be dragged in front of the Cabinet, on a cross, to be severely reprimanded like Christ, for his unauthorised reductions. But what the nincompoop hadn’t realised, we knew Christ was innocent, and so is Gossai, of what he is being accused.
Mark’s Take
Notwithstanding, anyone who knows Jagdeo’s micromanagement leadership style, would be cognisant, it’s highly unlikely Gossai, could’ve made this reduction, without his knowledge. In fact, Gossai would’ve had to get past not only the micromanager Jagdeo, but also a brick wall in Bharat. As a matter of fact, if he had gotten past the micromanager Jagdeo and the brickwall Bharat, Gossai would’ve then had to outwit the formidable GRA. For this is what PPP would want us to believe, Gossai spun this intricate corrupt web, unbeknownst to both Jagdeo and Bharat.
But this is the reality, Exxon would’ve supplied bills to IHS-Markit, which would’ve informed their audit. And from this audit, with the aforementioned bills having been scrutinised, it was established, Exxon was US$214M excess, in claimed expenses. Then as reported by the media, Exxon provided further bills, to initially reduce the US$214M disputed amount, to US$11M and subsequently to US$3M. However, with the disputed amount set at US$3M, Exxon reportedly concluded that it would’ve been too arduous to scrutinise the remaining bills, to further reduce the disputed amount. Nonetheless, despite their assiduous efforts to reduce the disputed amount to US$3M, Exxon made the inexplicable decision, as reported by Jagdeo, to forego the full US$214M, once the audit scandal was leaked. Thus, the question, why did Exxon forego the full US$214M? Surely, this wasn’t the doing of Gossai?
However, this scandal was moving faster than Jagdeo’s lies could keep up. For no sooner had he reported Exxon was foregoing the full US$214M, their CEO announced that wasn’t the case, since the audit remained ongoing. But no sooner had the CEO made his pronouncement, GRA was out to assert the audit was closed, with US$214M being the final disputed figure, as determined by IHS-Markit. Thus, the question, could this intricate financial entanglement be the making of Gossai, as PPP would want us to believe?
Nevertheless, this is the reality confronting us. Public Servants are desperately in need of a liveable wage; therefore, one would’ve thought PPP would spare no effort in maximising our revenue from the US$214M. However, that wasn’t to be, as a corrupt PPP struck an incestuous deal with Exxon, that minimised our revenue to US$3M, whilst maximising theirs at US$211M. And when caught red handed, with their hands in our oil monies, Jagdeo proffered that the Natural Resource Ministry was undertaking an internal investigation. But the fact is, the corrupt US$211M scheme was conceived in said Ministry, which begs the question. How could the Ministry have investigated themselves? Why didn’t they have an independent investigation? For them having investigated themselves, is analogous to the devil trying his case in hell.
But herein is the truth; the only rogue members in our Petroleum Unit are Jagdeo and his cronies. For Public Servant Gossai is nothing but a scapegoat. Likewise, this quasi-investigation is nothing but a smokescreen. Which evidence, corruption is pervasive in our Petroleum Unit, mandating draining of the swamp, starting with the sleazy Jagdeo.
