By Sunday Ani
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has been consistently saying that the quantity of crude oil being stolen from Nigeria is much more than the revenue that the Federal Government is getting from the crude oil sale. This, he said, has grave implications in the fiscal policy of the government, especially as it relates to the provision of infrastructure and other amenities that will improve the lives of Nigerians.
Adebayo urged Nigerians not to be fooled by the government noise about debt servicing surpassing the government revenue in Nigeria, describing it as a scaremongering cover-up. “What has surpassed revenue is not debt. Stealing has surpassed the disclosed revenue. Siphoning has surpassed the disclosed revenue. They are hiding your money,” he charged.
Most Nigerians believe he is the only presidential candidate that feels greatly disturbed by this development. For almost seven months now, he has been shouting about crude oil theft, which according to him, has agents of the state deeply involved in. He has spoken at various fora, warning that the government must take decisive action to arrest the ugly trend. At the current $100 per barrel, Nigeria is believed to be losing $300 million in a single operation by one vessel.
However, the government seems to have been prevaricating and living in denial all along until recently when the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) boss claimed that the oil theft was real and was actually affecting the government revenue. He noted that a lot was certainly being done about it by the government. His acceptance of the ugly trend in the oil sector has not only vindicated Adebayo as saying the truth, but it has also shown that he is a man that has the conviction, boldness and courage to speak out about the economic sabotage. Close watchers of recent socio-political events in Nigeria are saying that none of the presidential candidates has spoken about the issue of oil theft with such conviction and vigour as Adebayo.
The ongoing court martial of 13 naval personnel in Lagos for alleged complicity in oil theft and vandalism, equally draws attention to the enormity of the country’s huge fiscal leakage and how corruption has made it impossible to stop the haemorrhage just as Adebayo has been pontificating all along.
Also, the seizure of a three million barrel capacity tanker in Equatorial Guinea carrying stolen crude from Nigeria has corroborated the assertion by Adebayo and some industry operators that crude oil theft has become an organised crime involving security agents and host communities.
Industry experts believe that Nigeria is in dire financial strait, suffering massive revenue shortfalls, piling up debt and spending almost all it makes on repayment, yet dependent on crude for most of its external revenues. It is their opinion that unless the government stops the collusion by state agents, the grand larceny would continue.
Latest report indicates that about 108,000 barrels of crude are stolen daily from state-linked production; a development that was corroborated by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) when it estimated that Nigeria lost 2.3 million barrels in July alone and 28 million barrels in total from January to July this year, threatening the FG’s N9.37tn oil and gas revenue by the end of the year.
The government again, through the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, also vindicated the SDP presidential candidate’s position on crude oil theft, when she blamed the low oil production on pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and high petrol subsidy cost. The NNPC boss also cautioned refineries outside Nigeria that patronise dealers of stolen crude oil, insisting that the commodity was not refined in Nigeria due to the non-functional refineries across the country.
Adebayo recently said that the Chief of Naval staff, in a television interview, was quoted to have indicted the NNPC and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), when he said that the oil theft in the Niger Delta is actually carried out in the offices of the two government agencies.
Adebayo wondered how massive ships could load crude oil at designated points without the requisite documentation, alleging that it is only when they are caught by the Navy that their documentation is forwarded to the Navy for them to be released. He also wondered what would have happened if they were not caught.
He gave another example of a ship measuring 336m in length, and 60metres in width, which was also caught loading on official platforms without the requisite documentation. “This brazen theft is being carried out by civil servants. The unpatriotic nature of an average Nigerian is mind boggling and research will need to be carried out on it,” he noted.
Adebayo also disagreed with the government’s figure that the crude oil theft was about 20,000 barrels per day, arguing that there was no way that could be possible since 10,000 barrels of crude oil is around 15,800,000 litres of crude and that it will take a five ton barge to make 3160 trips per day to convey such to the high sea without being noticed.
“This brings us to the question of why Tompolo was given such a massive pipeline security contract worth N4billion monthly to secure the nation’s pipeline. It is very clear from the interview granted by the Chief of Naval Staff that the theft of crude oil is more an official theft than bunkering. This is the first time we are hearing, firsthand, the truth about oil theft and this information is supposed to generate a massive uproar in every facet of the society but as usual, we are too concerned by ethno-religious bickering and we want a better society,” he stated.
Apart from speaking consistently about oil theft, Adebayo has also been talking about asset declaration for anybody wishing to lead Nigeria. His position on asset declaration by those wishing to lead Nigeria has also been commended by SERAP. According to SERAP, he is the only candidate, who has said that so far since he has promised to declare his assets fully by October if no other candidate shows interest.
Adebayo has also challenged other presidential candidates to declare their assets publicly in line with transparency, even as he praised Omoyele Sowore for joining him to push for public declaration of assets by all the presidential candidates.
“Failure of leadership can best be cured by changing bad rulers since the bad rulers won’t change and can’t change themselves. The 2023 general election is the time to vote out the bad politicians who theatrically lament over problems they caused, and problems they can fix but refuse to fix,” he submitted.