AN Ad hoc Committee of the House of Representatives has accused the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami as well as Interpol, on what it described as interference in the committee’s investigation.
The Committee which is investigating the nation’s stolen crude from 2014 till date, questioned why a whistleblower would be invited by Interpol on the request of the Ministry of Justice just after the commencement of the investigation of the House.
Th Committee is investigating a whistleblower’s allegation of illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light crude in China in 2015, valued at 2.4 billion dollars.
However, the Head of the National Central Bureau of Interpol Nigeria, Garba Umar, said the Bureau only acted on the request of the AGF.
The Chairman, House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft, Mark Gbillah said, “There is a group called Advocacy for Good Governance and Free Nigeria.
“That is the so-called Civil Society Organisation that wrote to the Attorney General claiming there was this international gang of blackmailers trying to blackmail senior officials of the government.
“How come the Attorney General responded to allegations by a faceless body? That means the Attorney General himself did not ascertain the veracity of any organisation.”
The Committee, dissatisfied with the submission of Interpol, accused the AGF of interfering with the investigation of the House.
The Committee feared the safety of the whistleblower and insisted that the Ministry of Justice should not be making direct requests to Interpol but should go through the police, as Interpol by law is only expected to respond to requests by local law enforcement agencies.
Recall the House of Representatives constituted a 13-man committee to investigate and determine the volume of oil extracted in the country on a daily basis.
The lawmakers took the unanimous decision after adopting a motion by Chukwuma Umeoji (APGA, Anambra) at the plenary in September, 2019.
The committee led by Deputy Leader, Peter Akpatason, was mandated to ascertain the quantity of oil stolen on a daily basis “and the people responsible for the theft.”
Moving the motion, Mr Uneoji said that Nigeria losses about N5 trillion yearly from oil theft.
According to him, this was an amount that the Government desperately needs to finance the budget.
Mr Umeoji said that about 22 million barrels of crude oil amounting to about N1.3 trillion were stolen in the Niger Delta in 2019 alone.
The lawmaker said that oil theft is not only an economic loss, but also causes environmental damage due to breaches on oil pipelines and the incidents are on the upsurge.