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The House of Representatives again is set to probe how the Nigerian crude oil and gas develop wings at the point of exportation to different destinations of the world.
The House barely a week ago resolved to further probe into how crude oil and gas are stolen on a regular basis from our ports and how several millions of barrels of crude oil and gas are under declared.
Before the House resolution, TNG had four weeks ago published an incisive report on how crude oil was stolen from Nigeria and discovered where they were located in 51 destinations across the globe.
The House new narrow angle:
The House had on September 27 resolved to set up an adhoc committee to determine the volume of oil extracted in the country on a daily basis, determine the quantity sold at the internal markets and what is consumed locally.
The decision followed the adoption of a motion on oil theft in Nigeria moved by Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji, representing Aguata Federal Constituency in Anambra State.
Umeoji had noted that Nigeria loses about N5 trillion yearly from oil theft, an amount which he said the government desperately needs to finance the budget.
About 22 million barrels of crude oil valued at about N1.3 trillion were stolen in the Niger Delta in 2019 alone, he alleged.
According to him, Oil theft is not only an economic loss but also causes environmental damage due to breaches on oil pipelines.
The wider scope from 8th Assembly;
In the eighth Assembly, at inception an adhoc committee was set up to carry out a similar probe but after completing its task the House failed to pay consultants that helped in carrying out the investigative hearing.
This singular development led to the demise of the committee’s report which was not eventually laid and the speaker, Yakubu Dogara silenced the committee in 2016.
By 2017 another adhoc committee was set up to probe the alleged 1.4bilion missing crude oil across the world.
The House made the move based on Hon Ehiozuwa Johnson Agbonnayinma motion on the issue using the report the Goodluck Jonathan administration submitted on its findings of how the Nigerian crude oil and gas was shared among 51countries.
The US, India top the list of the 51ciuntries that benefitted from the stolen Nigerian crude oil and gas.
The report had exposed the countries and he commissioned an auditing firm based in Texas to conduct the investigations which revealed those involved.
US lawyers visited Nigeria in 2017 trying to get first hand information on the matter but they were roundly frustrated.
They left Nigeria and vowed never to come back but chose to approach the courts in the US to get justice on behalf of Nigeria.
The Jonathan government report had indicted major stakeholders in the country and government agencies.
Between 2011-2014 1.4bn crude oil and gas was stolen from Nigeria.
Loses recorded in just four years;
2011 – 385 Million Barrels
2012 – 402 Million Barrels
2013 – 363 Million Barrels
2014 – 342 Million Barrels
Total- 1492 Million Barrels
The above was discovered as a result of the probe the President Goodluck Jonathan administration instituted to get to the bottom of how Nigeria’s crude oil and gas develop wings when it’s shipped abroad.
Jonathan had contracted an auditing firm to probe what went wrong and in a chat with Hon E J Agbonnayinma after he moved a motion to help unravel what transpired, concerning the theft of 1.4bn barrels of crude oil and gas and he gave a brief synopsis of the report.
He gave the breakdown that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency,NIMASA, and other agencies were indicted in the report.
The company was contracted in 2013 by the administration of President Jonathan to proffer solutions to the challenges of crude oil theft.
Agbonayinma, in the motion, recalled that Molecular Power System was engaged to provide technical data (records of crude oil and liquefied natural gas lifting in Nigeria as obtained from the NNPC, and landing certificates at global destinations) to verify
possibilities of non declaration to the federal government by multinational companies.
“The data gathering of shipment to the USA for the period 2011 to December 2014 through critical NNPC data and the Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN, pre-shipment inspection report shows undeclared crude oil shortfalls of 57,830,000 MT of Nigerian crude
oil, translating to well over $12 billion to the USA, also over $3billion to China, and $839,522,600 to Norway,” he said. These were conclusively ascertained by buyers’ bill of lading, arrival dates, destination ports, quantity of crude oil and other documented information, Agbonayinma said.
This is scandalous. The lawmaker further noted that the data gathered showed a liquefied natural gas shortfall of 727,460 metric tonnes, estimated at over $461 million, from shipments to seven countries.
The revenue loss, Agbonayinma said, was traced to cargoes at each destination port of entry, and have been established as undeclared cargo.
He added that the tracing was found in 51 countries where Nigerian crude oil has been exported, with the US being the largest receiver
of crude oil.
The report from the US and that of other countries, were made available to the former President, the office of the Attorney General of
the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, he said.
“The machines that monitor loading into the
vessels were bought, owned, calibrated
and operated by the International Oil Companies
(IOCs) without monitoring”.
The ad-hoc Committees set up in the eighth Assembly never submitted any report until the demise of the last Assembly.
The House spent tax payers monies to conduct investigative hearings that never produced any report.
The latest on crude oil theft is the announcement Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki made that Nigeria lost 22mb in just six months in 2019.
What happened to other missing barrels of crude oil and gas in the previous years between 2015 through 2019. Former President Johnathan at least gave an account of what happened in four years.
This new committee should go beyond just Obaseki’s announcement and do something meaningful for Nigerians to see and hear.
The speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila should ensure a report is submitted this time around.