Nnimmo Bassey, an environmental activist and the Director Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has implored the Senate to reject the recent report of the Senate Committee on oil theft in the country.
He hinged his position on the failure of the report to name the those behind large scale of oil theft castrating the country’s economy.
The Senate Ad-Hoc Committee set up to investigate the theft of the country’s crude oil and its negative impact on the economy, submitted its findings to plenary on Tuesday
It revealed that between January and August 2022, Nigeria lost $2billion,with consequent loss of revenue that would support the country’s fiscal deficits and budget implementation .
The report kept mum on the masterminds of the act contrary to promise to name and shame them.
It claimed that efforts in combating the menace has begun yielding results with Forcados Terminal producing 500,000 barrels per day now as against zero production in the first six months of the year.
The Senate had on April 14, 2022, constituted a 13 – member Ad – Hoc Committee on Oil Lifting , Theft and the impact on Petroleum Production and Oil Revenues under the Chairmanship of Senator Akpan Bassey.
According to the report,Bonny Terminals, is also producing 87,000 barrels of oil per day now as against zero production a couple of months ago due to activities of economic saboteurs.
Expressing disgust over the report, Bassey in a statement made available to Premium News,said the vacuous report of the committee deserves to be roundly rejected by the Senate because a lack of spine to name the thieves also suggests complicity by leaders who may wish to switch off the microphone at a time Nigerians need to be given some hope that impunity and economic violence can be tackled by the country’s government structures.
He added: “Their silence is as loud as has been the case with the unwillingness of government to name the sponsors of terrorist activities in the country. Unless they had no access to the right information, the report suggests an unreadiness to contribute to promoting transparency in the sector but promotes distractions.
“The public expected the committee to expose the oil thieves — a move that would stem the malfeasance in the sector. Naming the oil thieves would be a step towards halting the ongoing bleeding of the nation. Not naming the oil thieves indicates that the committee considers them to big to be exposed and to deserve more protection than the soul of the nation.
“Why on earth would a committee meet at this point in time when everyone knows that oil and even gas are being stolen at industrial scale by persons or entities that are powerful enough to blind the eyes of those whose job it is to protect the nation’s assets? ”