By Joshua Egbodo
Abuja
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said that the high level of corrupt practices in the oil and gas sector had posed great challenges to the country’s development efforts.
Dogara, who stated this while declaring open, an investigative public hearing on the alleged $17 billion stolen from undeclared crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports to global destinations, yesterday in Abuja stressed that if the sharp practices in the oil and gas sector are curbed, and the loss of revenue stopped, “Nigeria will have enough for its basic needs.”
Represented by Minority Whip of the House, Yakubu Barde, the Speaker explained that the interest shown by the Parliament in the sector was not just a coincidence, but borne out of the desire to clean up the mess.
Citing different reports as obtained through the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiatives (NEITI), the Speaker said over $4.4 billion of oil revenue was reportedly “trapped somewhere, not remitted, while about $12.9 billion from NLG proceeds collected since 2009 suffered similar fate.”
Meanwhile, the Abdulrazak Namdas-led investigative panel has expressed anger with invited agencies, which either failed to appear at the hearing yesterday, or rather appear through representatives of the bosses, who the committee refused to take submissions from.
Namdas, who announced the committee’s decision to adjourn the session for 11am today, said all those expected yesterday must appear today.
“This government is fighting corruption, and we are working in support. Government agencies should also do the same. Go back, tell your bosses we want to see them here tomorrow,” Namdas who said the amount involved may be far above the $17 billion as reported,” said.
The Committee had summoned the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), among others, to appear before it yesterday.
