Members of the House of Representatives were told Thursday during a public hearing that between 2009-2020, $46billion billion worth of crude oil was stolen, while the Federal government has spent over $1.5 billion from 2020 to date to secure oil installations and curb crude oil theft.
The Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, who disclosed this at the hearing said: “The Federal Government was concerned about the report from the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which pointed to over $46 billion worth of stolen crude between 2009 and 2020.
“The House had set up a special committee, headed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Ado Doguwa, to investigate the losses in the oil and gas sector.”
Also, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, added $10 billion has been lost in seven months to crude oil theft.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate has vowed to expose saboteurs in the nation’s petroleum sector and those responsible for the importation of toxic fuel into the country.
Speaking during a press conference Thursday in Abuja, the Senate ad-hoc committee chairman, Opeyemi Bamidele revealed that a panel has been constituted to investigate the alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.
According to him, “We are also taking this task seriously to address fundamental issues that pose grave threats to our economic prosperity, fiscal stability, and public health as a federation.
“In line with our mandate, we will definitely unravel the roots of economic sabotage in Nigeria’s petroleum industry and make necessary recommendations that will entrench global best practices in the industry and open it up for more investments, especially in the midstream and downstream sectors.
“We are utterly committed to this mandate. We shall also carry out this national assignment without fear or favour.
“We shall be fair and just to all parties with a view to promoting and protecting the strategic national interests of our fatherland.”
