Key highlights
- Less than two months to the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, House of Reps members begin a 3-day probe into missing $2.4 billion crude oil sale from 2015.
- In January 2023, members expressed their readiness to investigate the alleged illegal crude oil sale.
- NNPCL, NUPRC, NEITI, and other parties have been invited to appear before the investigating committee at the House of Representatives.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 11, began a three-day investigative hearing of the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil, valued at $2.4 billion.
According to news reports, the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Oil Theft has invited several high-ranking officials in the Federal Government over its investigation into the alleged loss of $2.4 billion in revenue from the illegal crude oil sale in 2015.
While opening the House session on Tuesday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila noted that it was necessary for the House to probe the alleged loss of $2.4 billion in crude oil sales. He said:
“In January and July 2022 alone, Nigeria lost $10bn to the crime. 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.
“In light of dwindling revenue accruing to Nigeria from crude oil sales, it was quite alarming to learn about whistle-blower allegations that over $2.4 billion in possible revenue by the country was lost from the sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil cargoes in China.
“While it is imperative to highlight that these are unverified allegations, the onus is on the House of Representatives, as a responsible House of the Nigerian people, to carry out a thorough investigation to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of these allegations, including an investigation into crude oil exports from Nigeria from 2014 to 2022, to ascertain the accuracy of recorded revenue from sales during this period, the utilization of this revenue and identify any likely additional losses in revenue to the country.”
While closing the first day of the investigative hearing, the Chairman of the Ad-Hoc committee, Hon. Mark Gbillah said:
“With regards to the issue of crude oil, we are expecting the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, oil and gas companies who operate fields and engage in exports, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Accountant-General himself, including the Budget Office of the Federation, to be present and provide clarifications to the issues under investigation.”
Backstory
Nairametrics had reported in January 2023, that Hon. Mark Gbillah, the Chairman investigating committee for crude oil theft in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, said that the committee members are fully committed to investigating the $2.4 billion Nigeria lost to crude oil theft in 2015.
According to Hon. Gbillah, the transaction occurred around 2015, and the whistleblowers who exposed the alleged sale claim that when the crude oil was eventually sold, the monies were not paid to the federal government.
In 2020, whistleblowers alleged that 48 million barrels of crude oil, which at the exchange rate at the time, would have amounted to over $2.4 billion was sold off to China, by certain individuals at the helm of affairs in government and some who they claim are still at the helm of affairs in certain quarters in government.
