President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, almost broke to tears when it was brought to his attention that a whopping $16 billion of the nation’s crude oil revenue loss could be traced to some sharp practices by some individuals in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

According to Vanguard, the quantum of funds in question are revenue that ought to have accrued to the Federal Government of Nigeria through oil-lifting deals which are now subject of intensive investigations. Specifically, one of the arrow heads of the crude oil lifting scam, who has been invited and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, at least twice before, has been granted administrative bail, and “who is alleged to be warehousing a sizable chunk of the money, drew the ire of Mr. President”, an Aso Rock Presidential Villa source disclosed.   

Aso Rock insiders told Vanguard that the funds were “supposed to be proceeds from some of the crude oil sold on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria by these people and for which they were said not to have made the necessary returns to the coffers of the country”. Continuing, one of the sources said: “You needed to have been there. You needed to have seen Mr. President. He was almost moved to tears at the colossal fraud that had taken place in the country.

“But Mr. President has ordered that every kobo must be recovered. Whatever it takes, he has made it clear that those funds must be recovered.”



- Vanguard