House Inaugurates C’ttee to Probe Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude oil, Also, From 2014 to date

Paschal Emeka, Abuja

The House of Representatives has inaugurated an Adhoc Committee to investigate the whistle-blower’s allegations concerning the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in China in 2015.

Recall that the House resolved to probe the allegation sequel to the approval of a motion of urgent public importance at plenary on 20th December 2022, by Hon. Isiaka Ibrahim.

The motion was basically on the alleged loss of over $2.4 Billion in revenue from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil export in 2015. But the House also decided to investigate Crude Oil exports from 2014 till date.

Also, recall that Hon. Isiaka Ibrahim in the motion drew the attention of his colleagues to allegations by a whistleblower in July 2020 that he had in July 2015 and in response to the current administration`s whistleblower policy brought to the attention of a Committee purportedly set up by the President for the recovery of missing crude oil exports, the existence of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil in storage at several ports in China ostensibly under the authorization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the intention of parties in China and the NNPC to sell this cargo.

“Also aware that the whistleblower claimed that the Committee, which comprised very high-ranking officials of the administration and NNPC (some of whom he held meetings with) carried out an investigation and confirmed the existence of this cargo, but he discovered in October 2015 that the sale of this cargo had been initiated through unofficial channels and the eventual refusal of the Committee to honor their agreement to pay 5% value of the cargo in line with the terms of the whistleblower policy.

“Worried by the allegations that the entire cargo of 48 million barrels of Bonny Light Crude was sold without the proceeds being remitted to the coffers of the country, which translated to a loss to the Nigerian State of over $2.4 billion considering the 2015 global average crude oil price of $52 per barrel.

“Concerned that more than two years after these allegations came to the fore and the uncertainty surrounding the required insurance of these crude exports, it becomes imperative that the House needs to ascertain the actual details of all previous crude exports from Nigeria from 2014 till date with regards to quantity, sale, insurance, revenue generated, payment into the Federation Account and how these proceeds were utilized.

To this end, the House resolved to constitute an ad-hoc committee to investigate the whistleblower`s allegations of the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude in China in 2015 and the insurance status of the cargo.

The house will also investigate all crude oil exports and sales by Nigeria from 2014 till date with regards to quantity, insurance, revenue generated, remittances into the federation accounts or other accounts as well as utilization of this revenue for the period under review.

Investigate all proceeds recovered through the Whistleblowers Policy and the level of compliance with the Policy and mandate the Committee to report back within four weeks, for further legislative action.

At the inauguration, the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee, Hon. Mark Gbillah stated that this Committee is determined to be different from others. He expressed his willingness to do a thorough job on behalf of the Nigerian people.

He, therefore, called on the media and other stakeholders to support the Committee to carry out its mandate.