Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday, expressed concern over unabated crude oil theft worth $46 billion (the equivalent of N16.25 trillion) between 2009 and 2020.
The Speaker, who disclosed this while delivering the keynote address during the inauguration of the Ad-hoc Committee investigating crude oil theft and loss of revenue, affirmed that the Ad-hoc Committee was mandated to “identify the players at all levels, who are responsible for this criminal enterprise and ensure that they are brought to book.”
Hon. Abbas, who cited the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) reports, noted that between 5 and 30 per cent of crude oil production is lost daily.
He said: “NEITI reports show that Nigeria’s oil production declined from 2.51 million barrels per day in 2005 to 1.77 million barrels per day in 2020. NEITI reports also show that 619 million barrels of crude valued at $46 billion were stolen in the period 2009-2020.
“Nigeria has continually failed to meet its daily production quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
“Recently, Nigeria’s OPEC quota was reduced from 1.742 million barrels per day to 1.38 million barrels per day. Yet, the country is still struggling to meet this quota as daily production output was 1.184 million barrels per day and 1.249 million barrels per day in May and June 2023, respectively.
“On the average, current daily production output is a far cry from the budget assumption of 1.69 million per day. The implication is clearly manifest in the economic crisis that the country is facing,” the Speaker lamented.
Aside the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine which has continued to cast a cloud of uncertainty on the oil and gas industry in the country, he maintained that Nigeria’s daily oil production has performed poorly due to a number of reasons.
“The House of Representatives is concerned that if decisive actions are not taken urgently the country may be thrown into deeper fiscal crisis due to dwindling revenues from the oil and gas sector engendered by crude oil theft. The House is aware of several efforts by past administration’s to address the menace of crude oil theft.
“A number of task forces, special Committees and investigative panels were set up in the past, each with a range of findings and recommendations. NEITI provides yearly updates on amount of crude oil stolen or lost through sabotage. Yet, the menace of oil theft has continued unabated despite the enormous resources already committed towards addressing it,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Speaker who was represented by Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, who frowned at the absence of critical agencies in the oil and gas sector such as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, among others at the investigative hearing.
While observing that the Heads of the agencies are not doing the nation any good for refusing to appear before the Parliament, he maintained that the affected public office holders have to answer questions on the critical aspect of the economy.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon. Alhassan Rumrum noted that the House during the debate on the motion, expressed concern that security agencies are allegedly complicit and largely responsible for facilitating most of the oil theft in the Niger Delta.
According to him, “the volume of losses occasioned by oil theft in the country and its associated impact on the economy is completely unacceptable and cannot be tolerated by any government who sincerely loves its citizens.
“The way and manner this act of sabotage and breach on our national security and sovereignty is carried out daily makes a caricature of our pride as a nation and even a mockery of the acclaimed status of our armed forces.
“It is an affront on government and its institutions, which must be tackled without further delay.
“It is in the light of these that the House constituted this committee and is determined to bring this ugly trend to an end otherwise there may be no future for our remaining children who have not yet ‘japaed’ to other countries in search of survival.
“To members of the armed forces/security agencies, all Nigerians in the various states, host communities and even in the diaspora who are involved in this practice, I challenge you all to have a rethink. We have no other country to call our own, let us therefore not push this madness to a point of no return where we may find nowhere to run to.”
While commending the President for the courageous steps so far taken to rebuild the country, Hon. Rumrum expressed optimism that: “these efforts will be in vain unless we make a resolute statement and send a powerful message through both words and actions, declaring that oil theft and all form of hydrocarbon unaccountability will not be tolerated under this administration.
“Only then can our people confidently and joyfully embrace a renewed sense of hope and purpose,” he said.
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