Buhari: reveals documents incriminating Jonathan’s officials over oil theft

President Muhammadu Buhari said he had received documents incriminating some yet to be identified ministers and senior officials in former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, as being head-deep in massive oil theft.

Under President Jonathan, Nigeria lost about 450,000 barrels of oil daily to thieves, who operated on Nigerian territory with impunity.

President Buhari for now has vowed to get to the root of the matter, prosecute those involved and also repatriate the proceeds back to Nigeria’s coffers.

He spoke at an interactive session with Nigerians in Diaspora at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, United States of America, as part of his four-day official visit to the country.

“Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels per day. I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised,” the President said.

“We are now looking for evidences of shipping some of our crude, their destinations and where and which accounts they were paid and in which country.

“When we get as much as we can get as soon as possible, we will approach those countries to freeze those accounts and go to court, prosecute those people and let the accounts be taken to Nigeria.

“The amount of money is mind-boggling but we have started getting documents. We have started getting documents where some of the senior people in government, former ministers, some of them operated as much as five accounts and were moving about one million barrels per day on their own. We have started getting those documents.

“I assure you that whichever documents we are able to get and subsequently trace the sale of the crude or transfer of money from ministries, departments, Central Bank, we will ask for the cooperation of those countries to return those monies to the Federation Accounts.

“And we will use those documents to arrest those people and prosecute them. This, I promise Nigerians.”

Buhari once again criticised the operational mode of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, saying his administration would reform the organisation.