$17bn undeclared crude: House c’ttee declares CBN, NPDC, DPR reps incompetent to speak

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$17bn undeclared crude: House c’ttee declares CBN, NPDC, DPR reps incompetent to speak

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The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on $17 billion stolen from undeclared crude oil and liquefied natural gas from Nigeria, yesterday, walked out officials of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; National Petroleum  Development Corporation, NPDC; and Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, as they were declared incompetent to speak on behalf of their principals on issue at stake.It was also reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC; Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI; Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA; National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS; Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF; Customs; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, shunned the investigative hearing.At about 11.30 am when the hearing started, the chairman of the adhoc committee, Abdulrazaq Namdas (APC, Adamawa) demanded for letters of attorney from representatives of CBN, NPDC and DPR, but unfortunately none of them had such a letter.At this point, the chairman consulted other members of the committee, who collectively agreed that the officials were not competent to speak on the subject matter.Ehiozuwa Johnson Agbonayinma (PDP, Edo), who moved the motion that led to the creation of the adhoc committee, said: “This committee gave two weeks’ notice and it was publicised in both print and electronic media and so there’s no reason for them not to be here today.’’Namdas tactically told the various representatives that they were not competent to speak for their bosses on the issue at stake.“We expect your principals here tomorrow (today) or better still come here with your letter of attorney,” he said.“The adhoc committee was not designed to witch-hunt anybody but to help cleanse the oil industry of rot as the incidence of corruption has become a recurring decimal”, the speaker, yakubu Dogara represented by the Minority Whip, Yakubu Barde (PDP, Kaduna), said.In the words of Namdas, chairman of the committee, “The immediate past government initiated this investigation but it was largely inconclusive. He said between January and December 2014, Nigeria lost 57million barrels of crude valued then at $12bn, adding that if the amount were to be converted to Naira, it was well over  N2trillion.“Corruption in the oil sector fundamentally distorts public policy, creates misappropriation of resources, vitiates private, public sectors development and   ultimately hurts the poor most.“By implication, if all revenue from crude oil exports lost due to the activities of those engaged in illegal exports and sales of Nigeria crude are recovered from identified buyers of stolen Nigeria crude oil, it”˜ll go a long way to support developmental goals of the government, including provision of potable water, infrastructure, good education, electricity and other good things of life.”

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