…writes President, alleges Nigeria lost $3trn to NNPCL’s corrupt practices in the past 25 years
Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction Institute of Nigeria has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, its foreign collaborators and their foreign collaborators of under-reporting and under-declaration of crude oil shipped out of the country for refining in the past 25 years.
The Institute claimed that the country must have lost between $1trillion and $3trillion to this corrupt practices by the NNPCL, its agents and foreign collaborators in the past two and a half decades.
Chairman of Council/President of the Institute,. Stephen Ogboli, made this allegation in a letter he wrote to President Bola Tinubu urging him to investigate the matter.
According to Ogboli, every barrel of crude oil taken out of Nigeria for refining contains other basic components in addition to PMS, popularly called petrol.
He alleged that out of all these components, only three or four are always talked about, urging the President to investigate those who should account for the other by-products of crude oil such as plastics and other components, which are usually derived after refining crude oil.
Ogboli disclosed that a baseline data analysis conducted by the Institute revealed that the alleged shortchanging of the reporting and accounting system by the NNPCL and its collaborators in the past 25 years had drastically reduced the country’s gains from the project.
The EMDRRI CEO said that the Institute had the evidence of these corrupt practices by the NNPCL and its collaborators and would readily present same whenever called upon to do so by the appropriate authorities.
A copy of the Institute’s letter to President Tinubu made available to our correspondent reads:
An open letter to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Excellency Sir,
My name is Stephen Ogboli the Chairman of Council/President of the Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction Institute of Nigeria based in Abuja.
As the name of the Institute implies, we are aimed at
environmental cross citing issues, such as you went to partake in Paris recently.
We are also aimed at human capital development and capability enhancement, in key areas of the Nigerian environmental and Climate change Adaptation issues.
Thus, we conduct from time to time research, workshops for education and production of knowledge based on materials. One of such is our just-concluded National workshop on Non-Oil sector revenue generation, which held on the 5th and 6th of July at Abuja Rockview Hotel.
I am compelled to write you this letter owing to the orchestrated and carefully planned distraction by our handlers in the Oil & Gas sector of the Nigerian
Economy.
This is so because after a careful study of the domestic consumption quotas, which I randomly carried out on our European and other countries for refining of crude oil, we at the Institute have come to believe that there is more to it than meets the
eyes.
A further and better look and investigation into this will show that for Twenty Five (25) years and counting, a lot of under-reporting and under-declaration is being done by the NNPC, its agents and their foreign collaborators.
Let me explain sir. Every barrel of oil taken out for refining contains other basic components starting from PMS etc. as it were. A close look on Google will show these basic components. But Surprising as it may seem, only three or four components are always talked about, which then leads me to ask who then accounts for the basic by-products, plastic and other components, which are always derivable when refining is being carried out.
At the institute, I conducted a baseline data analysis that showed that these short changing of our reporting and accounting system might have reduced our gains from this project over the past twenty five years and counting. The amount in question is mind-boggling; which is well over one trillion dollars, clearly the quantity might be over 3 trillion Dollars over the past years. This is scarce resources much needed for today’s challenges.
As I said earlier, I am compelled to write as a worried father, husband, entrepreneur and lover of Nigeria. I have not lived outside Nigeria except for visits, which did not last up to a month in the last 50 years of my life; same with over seventy percent of other Nigerians who have nowhere else to go.
The Cabal both local and foreign will first of all deny by all means. However, we are ready to show evidence when the need arises.
Kindly bear in mind that these groups will make it look like rocket science but it is not sir. Let the National Economic Council kindly look into this issue as we have been robbed.
Stephen Ogboli,
CEO, EMDRRI