$2.4bn Illegal Oil Sales: Reps Assure Whistleblowers Of Protection

The Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives investigating an alleged loss of over $2.4 billion to illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil export in 2015 including crude oil export from 2014 till date has assured those willing to render vital information of their safety.

The committee also assured that identities and testimonies of whistleblowers would be treated with utmost confidentiality in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s Anti-corruption drive.

The chairman of the committee, Hon Mark Gbillah stated that the committee was set-up seven years after the incident because it was brought to the fore in 2020 and the House needed background information for a thorough investigation and outcome.

The committee solicited the support of individuals and corporate organisations to enable the committee achieve its mandate.

A member of the committee, Hon Ganiyu Johnson explained that as part of efforts to revive the various refineries in the country, the House Committee on the state of refineries visited some of the refineries and gave assurance of Port Harcourt and Warri refineries coming into full operation by first and last quarters of this year.

He said, “Like I said initially this is the House Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the alleged loss of $2.4 billion from the sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil also mandated by the House to investigate crude oil sales from 2014 till date and whistleblower information and recoveries and expenditure of these recoveries. So, in summary the key issues of this Ad-hoc Committee are mandated by the House to look into and I want to say that by the leave of the speaker and members of the House of Representatives I have been assigned as the chairman of this committee.

“It is a show by the leadership of the house of their willingness and transparency in arriving at truth behind whatever has transpired in this circumstance because an allegation was raised in 2020 by a whistleblower out of the country who alleged that Nigeria’s crude in China, when the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari came on board was diverted and sold allegedly by certain individuals who were in government who were in the nation’s oil corporation who were in the security agencies and who were also cronies of those in Authority at the time.

Now the Committee takes very seriously issues that have to do with allegations.

“We owe Nigerians the benefit of doubt in line with our Constitution. We owe them a duty of care to ensure that we unravel the facts of the matter before we start to make any assertions. it is obviously going to be important for us to arrive at the conclusion and provide a substantive report that would obviously be in the records and would determine whether or not these issues transpired and in carrying out our functions, one of the things we are going to need to do would be to interview those who made those allegations. Some of them have reached out to the committee alleging threat to their lives. They were intimidated at gun point allegedly.

“The leadership of the house is in support of this committee arriving at the truth and the facts of this matter. and it shows the seriousness of this house in addressing issues that have to do with the commonwealth of Nigerians. Even though these allegations were made about two years ago you can see that this responsible House of the Nigerian people has still deemed it necessary to look into this matter even as we go about our electioneering campaigns.