President Muhammadu Buhari told a stunned audience this morning that Nigeria’s crude oil was still being stolen as at 3 June, by ‘people in government’, about five days after the Jonathan administration officially ended.
“Up to the third of this month, our crude was still being illegally lifted by people who are in government. We are trying to get these documents. We are getting the cooperation of the international community”, Buhari announced on a live NTA Programme, Good Morning Nigeria.
“We are going to make sure that those who perpetrated this theft against Nigeria are faced with facts very soon and are taken to our courts. We’ve got the cooperation of some of the countries of the destinations of our crude (oil) and we are discussing with them,”Buhari said.
The President said that the Federal Government was working very assiduously to expose the persons behind the illegal activity.
He promised that his administration would continue to update the public on government’s investigation into the matter.
He said that government’s aim was to identify and prosecute all those found culpable.
According to him, the relevant shipping documents are being compiled for onward submission to countries of destination of stolen Nigerian crude oil.
“We have to maintain high confidentiality so that we don’t risk some of the loyal Nigerians that are helping us to trace the destinations of this stolen crude and then the accounts into which the monies are being paid instead of the Federal Government account.“
Buhari said that his administration was still studying the recommendations on how the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation should be reorganised.
He said that the US and other European countries had also pledged to assist Nigeria by putting in place necessary security mechanism in the Gulf of Guinea to help check the theft of the country’s crude oil.