The Nigerian Navy has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited of spinning out inflated numbers in order to save face rather than disclosing the real reasons for crude oil theft in the nation.
The Nigerian Navy’s chief of Training and Operations, stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes at a National Assembly interactive briefing on the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022.
Agada stated that at several interactions with the NNPC, the Navy had stated the causes of fuel scarcity to the company that there was no way anyone would steal 100,000 barrels of oil in a day, but the NNPC had deliberately continued to mislead Nigerians.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Suleiman Kwari, questioned the Navy chief on why the country continued to experience cases of oil theft if the waterways were secured.
Kwari queried: “The oil theft issue has been a very worrisome one to every Nigerian and more importantly, it has negatively impacted our economy. How come the Navy hasn’t been able to solve the issue of oil theft and if the Navy is claiming that the waterways are secured, why are there still cases of oil theft?”
