The
Nigerian Navy has revealed that the country loses an estimated N433 billion
annually to crude oil theft due to poor law enforcement presence in the
waterways. A report from NAN says : The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, made the
disclosure in Abuja, when he defended its 2015 budget proposal before the
Senate Committee on Navy.
Jibrin, represented by the Chief of Logistics, Peter Agba, credited the statistics
to a recent revelation made by Chatham House, London.
He said the statistics did not include the amount of oil suspected
to have been stolen from export pipelines, cost of oil spillage cleanup, loss
of income to fishing communities and environmental degradation.
“The Nigerian Navy is
constitutionally tasked with the protection of our maritime assets and recently
the Chatham House revealed that Nigerian crude oil is being stolen at an
industrial scale.
It conservatively estimates
that about 100,000 barrel per day, valued at N1.18 billion is stolen daily due
to poor law enforcement presence, which is translated to N433.62 billion
annually,’’ he said.
Jubrin attributed the inability of the Navy to curb criminality in
the nation’s waters to lack of adequate funding, and called for better funding
of the service.
He said going by the 2015 overhead cost proposal of seven billion
Naira, the service would find it difficult to maintain sufficient presence on
the nation’s waters.
He said the Navy required N205 billion as capital budget for 2015
but based on the envelope system, it submitted only a capital budget of eight
billion naira.
Jubrin said that this represented 96 percent reduction.
“The Nigerian Navy
appreciates the financial constraints of the Federal Government but wishes to
point out the importance and economic benefits of an improved funding.
The Nigerian Navy,
therefore, in the nearest future will be craving the indulgence of the National
Assembly to make its capital asset acquisition a first line charge to the
Consolidated Revenue Fund.
We are also making a case
for the establishment of a Naval Trust Fund to enhance our operations,’’ he
said.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Chris Anyanwu (PDP-Imo East),
expressed concern over the statistics issued by Chatham House on the rate of
annual crude oil theft in Nigeria.
Anyanwu stressed the need for better funding for the Navy to
enable it curb the increased level of crude oil theft.
“What country can lose this
kind of asset and still stay whole? That explains what is really happening in
the country today.
In view of the huge loss of
crude oil, I agree with the Navy in the argument that expenditure in the Navy
should be seen as an economic expenditure,’’ he said.
She further commended the effort of the Navy in living up to its
mandate in spite of poor funding.
“I see the statistics of
what you have been doing in terms of seizures. You seized 84 vessels and 155
oil thieves were arrested.
That is something
significant and I want to applaud the current leadership for his effort,’’ she
said.
She said that there was need for the next National Assembly to
establish a Trust Fund for the Navy to enable it discharge its duties
effectively.
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