Nigeria May Lose $23 Billion In 2023 To Crude Oil Theft, Says Speaker

Following the federal government top officials' no show before the House of Representatives as part of the investigation into the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in 2015, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said Nigeria may lose $23 billion this year to the crime.

Gbajabiamila explained on Tuesday the available data showed that in January and July 2022 alone, the country has lost $10 billion to crude oil theft.

"Available data shows that the country may lose $23bn this year to crude oil theft, with concerns being expressed about the possibility of meeting the 2023 proposed production target of 1.69 million barrels per day due to the myriad of issues militating against the attainment of this target, such vandalism, in-accurate reconciliation, insecurity, and unreasonable operational cost," he added, Punch reported.

"In the light of dwindling revenue accruing to Nigeria from crude oil sales, it was quite alarming to learn about whistle-blower allegations that over $2.4bn in possible revenue by the country was lost from the sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria's crude oil cargoes in China," he continued.

Gbajabiamila explained the investigation was not a witch hunt, but a constitutional responsibility of the house.

The speaker further noted that corruption in Nigeria has been a hurdle in the country's development, adding that the nation's ranking was 150th out of 180 countries in the most recent Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.

"While the government, through its anti-graft agencies, continues the onerous fight against corruption, the task remains daunting and requires the cooperation of all Nigerians to curb and eventually eradicate," he said. "It is the practice globally for individuals with information about the existence of proceeds from illegal or corrupt actions by government officials or private individuals to volunteer such information and receive compensation when recoveries are made as an incentive to others."

The alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in 2015 has been valued at more than $2.4 billion.

The three-day investigative hearing began on Tuesday, where The House Ad Hoc Committee was supposed to question ministers, several departments and agencies of the Federal Government alongside oil companies and banks involved.

While the officials failed to appear in the hearing, the committee summoned many top officers, including secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed.

Mark Gbillah, who serves as the chairman of the committee, said during the hearing it was "unfortunate that the Honorable Minister of Finance is not here; the Attorney-General of the Federation is not here and this is a formal request from the committee that they appear before this committee because they have received formal invitations to do so."

"A lot of what we have to investigate with regards to the whistle-blower policy is saddled with the Ministry of Finance and the (Office of the) Attorney-General of the Federation."

He explained the committee has received responses from the Office of the Accountant-General, which showed the minister of finance "has been approving payments to whistle-blowers in percentages at variance with what the policy says they should be paid."

The chairman also noted there have been allegations the Office of the Accountant-General was receiving funds from outside the country without remitting to the Federation Account.