John Ameh, Abuja
Slow response to enquiries by
Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government has
delayed the investigation into the $17bn Nigeria’s crude oil allegedly
stolen through undeclared exports between 2011 and 2014,
An ad hoc committee of the House of
Representatives was inaugurated on December 7, 2016 with a mandate to
probe the alleged theft and ensure the recovery of the funds.
The committee, which is chaired by a
member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, Mr.
Abdulrazak Namdas, had summoned key MDAs, including the Ministry of
Finance, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; the Central Bank
of Nigeria; the Department of Petroleum Resources; the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency; the Nigerian Navy; and the Nigeria
Customs Service among others, to produce documents.
Some international oil companies were also directed by the committee to produce documents on the crude exports.
The list include Shell Western Supply
and Trading; Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited; Shell US Trading
Company; Chevron Nigeria Limited; ExxonMobil Nigeria Nigeria; Total
Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited; Duke Oil Company Limited;
and Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited.
The News on Thursday
that many of the government-owned agencies had, however, failed to
respond to the committee’s enquiries one month after they were served
letters.
“These MDAs played a colluding role in
the whole crude theft saga because it was primarily their responsibility
to ensure that the country’s interest was protected. But officials
either simply looked the other way or sided with some oil trading
companies to rip off the country.
“It is not surprising that their
response to the enquiries is not encouraging, but this will not deter
the committee,” one National Assembly official told News in Abuja on Thursday.
Investigations showed that the slow
response to enquiries had affected the plans of the committee to open
its public hearing as soon as members would have reconvened on January
10.
“The implication is that there will be a
little delay, but certainly the public hearing will get underway. The
committee will not be deterred.
“We are talking of funds in excess of N6tn; this can finance the 2017 budget.
“Where necessary, reminders will be sent
to the agencies that have yet to respond before the hearing takes off,”
one committee source informed The News.
When our correspondent sought the
reactions of Namdas, he confirmed that only eight oil majors had so far
submitted documents to the committee.
Namdas also stated that a number of
agencies had responded but he specifically mentioned NIMASA and the
Ministry of Finance as holding back.
Namdas said, “It would have served the
interest of all parties to have the documents ready by now so that our
consultants can analyse them for the full public hearing.
“We are resuming on January 10; so, let us give everyone that benefit of the doubt.”
Findings also indicated that out of about 20 IOCs summoned by the committee, only eight had responded as of January 1.
The firms, which responded, were said to
have supplied “sketchy” information, which did not exactly capture the
data they were directed to produce on their involvement in crude exports
between 2011 and 2014.
The House resolution in December had
ordered the probe after lawmakers established evidence of “fraudulent
transactions and irregularities” in crude and gas exports within the
period under review.
For example, the committee reviewed a
2013 report produced by Molecular Power System (Nigeria) Limited, a firm
engaged by former President Goodluck Jonathan to look into records of
crude oil and liquefied natural gas lifting in Nigeria.
Part of the information at the disposal
of the committee put the figure of undeclared crude shortfalls between
2011 and 2014 at 57,830,000 barrels.
The document stated, “This translates to well over $12bn worth of crude shipped to the United States.
“Also, over $3bn worth of oil was shipped to China and $839,522,600 worth of crude was taken to Norway.
“These figures were conclusively
ascertained by buyers, bill of lading, arrival dates, destination ports,
quantity of crude oil and other documented information.”
The US was listed as the leading
destination for the crude, out of the 51 countries that received crude
exports from Nigeria within the period.
“The report was made available to the
former President; Office of the Attorney General of the Federation;
NIMASA; and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and that as of
today (2016), the country has to its credit over $17bn of recoverable
shortfalls from undeclared crude oil exports to global destination,” it
added.
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