President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed the extent of rot and mismanagement of the Nigeria’s crude oil fund.
The President on Tuesday said that his administration would trace the accounts of individuals who stashed away ill-gotten oil money, freeze and recover the loot and prosecute the culprits. The President made the comments during a meeting with members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) in the United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC.
According to a statement released by Buhari’s media aide,Garba Shehu, the president said: “250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude are being stolen and people sell and put the money into individual accounts.”
“We will ask that such accounts be frozen and prosecute the persons. The amount involved is mind-boggling. Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels per day.”
Buhari claimed that during his time as federal minster for petroleum, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had only two traceable accounts from which the company paid oil proceeds to the Central Bank of Nigeria but the situation is different now saying: “now everybody is doing anyhow.”
“I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised.”
Buhari also explained that removing the subsidy on fuel in the country would cause hardship to the average citizen. The President expressed doubt that if the oil subsidy was ever removed; transport, housing and food prices would go out of control and the average worker would suffer untold hardship. He said: “Who is subsidizing who? But, people are gleefully talking, ‘remove subsidy’. They want petrol to cost N500 per litre. If you are working and subsidy is removed, you can’t control transport, you can’t control market women: the cost of food, the cost of transport.
“If you are earning N20,000 per day and you are living in Lagos or Ibadan, the cost of transport to work and back, the cost of food. You cannot control the market women because they have to pay what transporters charge them.
“If there is need for removing subsidy, I will study it. With my experience, I will see what I can do. But I am thinking about more than half of Nigerians, who, virtually cannot afford to live.
“Where will they get the money to go to work? How can they feed their families? How can they pay rent? If Nigeria were not an oil producing country – all well and good. Our refineries are not working. We have a lot of work to do.”
