Nigeria lost about 10 billion dollars in revenue to crude oil theft in a space of seven months between January and July 2024, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen has revealed.
By Emma ogbuehi
Nigeria lost about 10 billion dollars in revenue to crude oil theft in a space of seven months between January and July 2024, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen has revealed.
Abbas who made the disclosure on Thursday, July 25, through his deputy, Benjamin Kalu at the commencement of an investigative hearing on crude oil theft and revenue losses, said it was practically impossible for the government to meet its daily obligations to the people with such huge revenue loss.
The startling expose was made as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume stated that the government was spending not less than 1.5 billion dollars on pipeline surveillance to prevent crude oil theft leading to huge revenue loss.
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The Nation reports that the speaker also said that those sabotaging the oil sector were known and would be unmasked by the House through the investigation, regretting that those saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the nation have resorted to self-service and have decided to serve themselves.
He said: “Between January and July, Nigeria lost 437,000 barrels of crude oil per day to oil theft, and by the current value that amounts to about 10 billion dollars in the last seven months.
“How can a government meet its obligations to the people like that especially when they have lost hope? I want to tell those planning to protest that the government has lost 10 billion dollars in the last seven months.”
Akume said that available records from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revealed that about 46 billion dollars worth of crude was stolen between 2009 and 2020.
The SGF, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Services, Maurice Nnamdi Mbaeri, said that the country has consistently failed to meet its production quota set by OPEC which has not only affected its revenue but hampers the provision of social services that Nigerians rely on.