The Federal Government has revealed that it has spent a staggering $1.5 billion since 2020 to protect the nation’s oil installations and curb crude oil theft, amidst alarming reports of losses in the oil and gas sector.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, disclosed this at a public hearing of the House of Representatives on crude oil theft. Akume, represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Services, Maurice Nandi, stated that the Federal Government was concerned about the report from the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which pointed to over $46 billion worth of stolen crude between 2009 and 2020.
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“The Federal Government was concerned about the report from the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which pointed to over $46 billion worth of stolen crude between 2009 and 2020,” Akume said.
Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating that $10 billion has been lost in just seven months to crude oil theft. “No magic can remedy such a loss,” he added.
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The House had set up a special committee, headed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Ado Doguwa, to investigate the losses in the oil and gas sector.
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