Oil theft: Military should flush out comrades
REPORTS that the House of Representatives is being lobbied to subvert its ongoing probe into oil theft underscore the resilience of the long-running national scandal. While lawmakers lamented the continued loss of crude, and urged the security agencies to expose collaborators in their midst, lobbyists are reportedly seeking to have the House jettison the report. Legislators should stand firm, see the task through to its logical conclusion and hurry forward with its mission to expose complicit officials.
A Reps committee is probing the massive oil theft in the Niger Delta following the stunning discovery of extensive collaboration by regulatory agencies and security agencies. It will also beam its searchlight on the activities of marginal field operators, who allegedly aid crude oil theft to complement shortfalls in their production.
It has held interactions with security agencies and will also engage operators of the marginal fields, as well as 14 production-sharing contract operators, and 57 joint venture operators.
Hopefully, this probe should shed light on Nigeria’s opaque oil industry. But the prevailing culture of ‘state capture’ has intruded. Reports indicate that some persons and entities being investigated are mounting intense pressure on the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abass, to stop the committee from proceeding with the task. Abass and the committee should rebuff such lobbyists.
Oil theft is harming Nigeria. It is losing about 40 per cent of explored crude oil to theft and inaccuracies in measurement due to poor maintenance of metering facilities. The House estimated that $4 billion was lost in 2021 at the rate of 200,000 barrels per day. Recently, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, confirmed that 400,000 barrels were stolen each day. Consequently, the country cannot meet its current OPEC production quota of 1.8 million bpd.
The rub is that security personnel have been found to be complicit and facilitating massive oil theft in the Niger Delta. Credible allegations indicate that senior military personnel are neck-deep in the industrial scale theft.
NEITI revealed that about 619.7 million barrels of crude oil, valued at $46.16 billion had been stolen in the 12 years to 2022. Allegations by a former Niger Delta militant in June reiterating the pervasive involvement of military personnel in oil theft reconfirms the need for a thorough investigation. Described as an organised crime perpetrated by the elite, oil theft reportedly draws in powerful cabals in the highest levels of government, the security agencies and the oil industry.
Apart from the Reps probe, President Bola Tinubu should order investigations by the NSA and the anti-graft agencies. The military should initiate its own in-house investigation. It should uncover collaborators within its ranks, serving and retired.
In 2022, the then Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, vowed to investigate oil theft activities after visiting oil theft sites in Delta State alongside oil sector executives. His successor, Chris Musa, should follow through on this promise. The Nigerian Navy especially must cleanse its ranks of complicit officers.
Most confounding in Nigeria’s oil theft saga is the setting on fire of vessels along with intercepted stolen crude inland or out in the sea. Without thorough investigation, prosecution or court order! This government should stop that bizarre and wasteful practice.
The impact of oil theft on the economy is enormous as crude oil accounts for about 90 per cent of the country’s revenue. According to a paper published in the European Modern Studies Journal, Nigeria lost revenue of $2.1 billion, $1.9 billion, $7.2 billion, and $22.4 billion for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The government must make stronger and more effective efforts to protect pipelines and other economic assets. Security operatives involved in oil theft should be unmasked, apprehended and prosecuted. Collaborators within its ranks must be brought to justice.
