By Moses Patience Chat
The House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, has lamented that Nigeria may lose over $2.4 billion in revenue from the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil exported in 2015, including all crude oil exports and sales by Nigeria from 2014 to 2023.
The Speaker said this on Tuesday during the House of Representatives Adhoc committee investigative hearing.
Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Hon. Isiaka Ibrahim from Ogun State, stated that the focus of the panel is on the alleged sale of crude to China, which was not remitted to the federation account, as well as other related matters contained in the panel’s terms of reference.
While commending the Federal Government for coming up with the whistleblower policy, the House of Reps Speaker noted that there was no statutory backing for it, promising that the parliament would enact a law to give legal backing to the policy.
According to him, “in the light of dwindling revenue accruing to Nigeria from crude oil sales, it was quite alarming to learn about whistleblower allegations that over $2.4 billion in possible revenue by the country was lost from the sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil cargoes in China.
“While it is imperative to highlight that these are unverified allegations, the onus is on the House of Representatives as a responsible House of the Nigerian people to carry out a thorough investigation to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of these allegations, including an investigation into crude oil exports from Nigeria from 2014-2022, to ascertain the accuracy of recorded revenue from sales during this period, the utilisation of this revenue and identify any likely additional losses in revenue to the country.
“The recommendation of the Committee after its investigation will no doubt, guide the House in making an informed decision in considering the Whistle-Blower Bill currently before it.
“The legislation when passed into law will address mirage of issues associated with the implementation of the policy as well as take adequate care of the whistle-Blowers involved, which is very significant in the success of the policy and law when passed.”
He further affirmed that whistleblowers that volunteered information to the Honourable House will receive the maximum legislative protection and confidentiality.
The committee, during the investigative hearing, also called on the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed Shamsuna, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to provide details of status of remittances into the federation account and the Whistle Blower Protection Bill before the House.
The panel also gave Oriental Energy Limited a one-week altimatum to provide all necessary documents regarding its involvement in crude oil lifting and sales within the period under review.