……Equatorial Guinea caught crude oil thieves that out-ran Nigerian Navy!
Owing to increasing cases of oil theft in Nigeria, Dr Baba Adams, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently tackle the menace as it is becoming a global embarrassment for Nigeria.
In an open letter Dr Adams stated that the N12tn Nigeria loses to oil theft annually is enough to finance the 2022 national budget of N10tn.
Read full letter below
“H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR:
Salam sir. The theft of Nigerian Crude Oil has passed beyond disturbing… You are the Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, sir… please see the report below that the Equitorial Guineans arrested Crude Oil thieves that out-runed the Nigerian Navy
1. Last year, on 2021, it was reported that over N3 trillion worth of Nigerian Crude Oil was stolen…
2. It was reported that in the first quarter of 2022 [January – March], one [1] billion USD worth of Crude Oil was stolen, which means four [4] billion of Crude Oil will be stolen…
3. The Hon. Min. of State Petroleum Resources earlier this month reported that as much as 400,000 barrels of Crude Oil were now stolen per day, which means that 142,400,000 barrels of Crude Oil are stolen every year in Nigeria…
That with the theft of 400,000 barrels of Crude Oil per day x USD118.06 per barrel for Bonny Light = USD16,811,744,000 …that is nearly USD17 billion worth of Crude Oil stolen per year…
In terms of Naira at the Black/Parallel Market rate of, say, N700/USD = N11,768,200,800,000, or nearly N12 trillion worth of Nigerian Crude Oil is stolen per year…Thus, what is stolen exceeds the 2022 FGN budget of N10 trillion!
As the servicing of the debt exceeds the revenue if something is not done urgently, Nigeria is coasting toward bankruptcy, sir! Today the FGN borrows trillions of Naira from China and co to fund the budget. In addition, over USD16 billion [N11.2 trillion] is projected to be expended in the highly corrupt fuel subsidy regime..
In short, sir, between the crude oil theft and fuel subsidy, the nation will be losing over USD30 billion… about N21 trillion in 2022!
Recommendations sir:
A. This Crude Oil theft is a Clear and Present Danger to the ‘National Security and Economy of Nigeria, and you must order this to be stopped by all means with immediate effect! The folks who are involved – both international buyers of the stolen Crude and our domestic sellers [however powerful or connected] must be brought to justice!
Any Ships and Vessels involved in this thievery, starting with the MV Heroic/Hunter Dunn, must be promptly confiscated, auctioned off, or added to the national fleet… and the crew of these ships must be sent to the maximum security Prison – so that it discourages other thieves from messing with us!
B. Is disturbing that the gigantic Super Tanker carrying three (3) million barrels of Crude Oil can outrun our Nigerian Navy, and they can be arrested by the tiny Equitorial Guinea Navy!
Thus we are hereby requesting a full investigation of the Naval personnel involved in this incident, sir.
C. We must revisit the Fuel Subsidy regime scam. All Nigerian borders must be blocked so that the so-called Subsidized Petroleum products are not re-exported to our neighbours…
We have serious problems…The mess with the Refineries is for another day – even with the billions of USD in so-called Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM)!
Sir, time is running out, and the mess that is happening will affect your legacy…
Doing nothing is not an option, sir!
Greetings to the family, sir.
Regards,
Dr Baba Adams