FILE PHOTO: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume
The Federal Government has spent over $1.5 billion since 2020 to protect the nation’s oil installations and combat crude oil theft.
This was disclosed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, on Thursday during a public hearing of the House of Representatives on crude oil theft. Akume was represented by the Permanent Secretary for General Services, Maurice Nandi.
The SGF highlighted concerns raised by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which reported that over $46 billion worth of crude oil was stolen between 2009 and 2020. In response, the House established a special committee, led by the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Ado Doguwa, to investigate the losses in the oil and gas sector.
Furthermore, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, noted that $10 billion has been lost to crude oil theft in just seven months, stressing that such significant losses severely hinder the government’s capabilities.
[logo-slider]
