- The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Friday said the Federal Government lost $966 million in revenue from the crude oil swap deal between 2009 and 2012.
- NEITI’s Communications Director, Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji, made the disclosure in Lagos at a forum on subsidy organised by Media for Oil Reform in collaboration with School of Media Communication, Pan Atlantic University.
- Crude Oil Swap is an arrangement by the Federal Government whereby the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) supervises the trading of the nation’s crude oil for refined products.Ogbonnaya-Orji said that there had been public concern about the objective of this arrangement being compromised.
- He explained that in 2012 alone, the cost of crude oil swapped was $6.4 billion, while value of refined products returned to Nigeria was $6.3 billion.
- Ogbonnaya-Orji said that in 2006, N219.72 billion was spent on subsidy, in 2007, N236.64 billion; 2008, N360.18 billion; 2009, N198.110 billion; 2010, N416.45 billion, 2011, N1.9 trillion and in 2012, N690 billion.
“The subsidy payments in 2012 amounting to N690 billion when compared with N1.9 trillion paid in 2011 showed a 29 percent reduction.
“This reduction may be due to the January 2012 national protest against oil subsidy,’’ Orji said.
- The NEITI Media Director said that the transparency initiative audit also revealed that NNPC had claimed that a total sum of N1.7 trillion was paid as subsidy between 2006 and 2012.
