Nigerian businessman, Tony Elumelu, has stated the federal government and safety brokers in Nigeria ought to be capable to inform Nigerians who steal the nation’s crude oil, particularly utilizing vessels that transfer by the territorial waters.
Elumelu acknowledged this in an interview printed by the Financial Times on Friday.
The businessman, who stated he dreaded oil theft, stated the menace contributed to the divestment of worldwide oil corporations in Nigeria.
He stated he found first-hand why worldwide oil corporations had been partly divesting from onshore property after legal gangs started stealing crude from his pipelines.
In 2022, when issues received to some extent the place his firm needed to shut down manufacturing, Elumelu took to social media, tweeting, “How can we be shedding over 95 per cent of oil manufacturing to thieves? Look on the Bonny Terminal that must be receiving over 200,000 barrels of crude oil each day. Instead, it receives lower than 3,000 barrels, main the operator Shell to declare power majeure.
“It is obvious that the explanation Nigeria is unable to fulfill its OPEC manufacturing quota shouldn’t be due to low funding however due to theft, pure and easy!
“Meanwhile, oil-producing countries are smiling as their foreign reserves are rising. What is Nigeria’s problem? We need to hold our leaders more accountable!”
Speaking with Financial Times, Elumelu expressed optimism, saying, nonetheless, that oil thieves nonetheless take away 18 per cent of crude from his discipline.
“42,000 barrels of crude are pumped out daily. Theft still takes away about 18 per cent of production,” he acknowledged.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Asked who was behind the theft, he replied, “This is oil theft; we’re not speaking about stealing a bottle of Coke you may put in your pocket. The authorities ought to know; they need to inform us.
“Look at America — Donald Trump was shot at and quickly they knew the background of who shot him. Our security agencies should tell us who is stealing our oil. You bring vessels to our territorial waters and we don’t know?”
The 61-year-old founding father of Heirs Holdings recalled how the earlier administration of President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly stopped him from buying an oilfield.
He disclosed that Heirs Holdings had been seeking to buy the oilfield since 2017, having raised $2.5 billion to buy a unique one.
But in a twist, he claimed that former President Buhari and his late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, blocked the deal.
Speaking on the mass relocation of Nigerians overseas, Elumelu declared, “I help it completely. I don’t have an issue with folks saying ‘I’m going to Canada, the UK or the US.’
“Joblessness is the betrayal of a era. You’ve gone to high school and are available again together with your desires and aspirations and also you don’t have the chance.
“People who decide to find solutions elsewhere, no one should stop them. But for those who decide to stay, they should try to create an impact and build a legacy.”