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Ashni Singh not shielded by President
—can be jailed for breaching oil law- Jagdeo
Kaieteur News- Although he was appointed senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh will not be shielded by President Irfaan Ali and will face the full brunt of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act for breaching its provisions.
This was explained by Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday during his weekly press conference at Freedom House, Georgetown. He was at the time responding to concerns raised by Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes, who reportedly shared the view that Dr. Singh could not be penalised under the Act, since he is not the Minister of Finance.
According to the legislation, the Minister of Finance can be jailed for failing to publish receipts made to the NRF. All inflows to the fund must be published in the Official Gazette and be laid in Parliament within three months of its receipt.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.
Jagdeo said, “So suddenly he is worried about ‘Oh, the Minister of Finance may not go to jail’ because Ashni Singh is not the Minister of Finance. He is the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and therefore the person will not go to jail if that provision were to be used because the President is the Minister and therefore the President has immunity.”
The former President however, pointed out that the December 23, 2020 Gazette has outlined the specific responsibilities assigned to Dr. Singh.
He explained, “You will see that Ashni Singh officially was assigned responsibilities for several things including Budget, public financial management, including government accounting and financial control- all of these come there. Once they are assigned then the Minister is responsible. If their portfolio remains unassigned or ungazetted then it remains with the President, so these responsibilities were assigned to the Minister since 23rd December, 2020.”
As such, Jagdeo maintained that Minister Singh will be penalised under the Act.
The NRF Act was passed in the National Assembly back in December 2021 amid protest action by the Opposition on the government’s rush to enact the legislation. Opposition Parliamentarians were of the view that the then Bill should have been sent to the Special Select Committee, given its importance, for greater consultation and deliberation to further strengthen its requirements.
Notably, the NRF Bill was tabled on December 16, 2021 and passed on December 29- within a mere 13 days.
(Ashni Singh not shielded by President)
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