FG will soon expose Nigerian elites aiding oil thefts – President Buhari’s spokesperson
Samuel Agbelusi
The Federal Government has revealed plan to expose top Nigerian elites and public figures aiding oil thefts in Nigeria. This was disclosed by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity in a live telecast “Trust TV’s Politics Today” monitored by EnergyDay on Saturday.
According to him, as part of efforts to rid the country’s economy from sabotage by a greedy few, security operatives had raided locations where illegal oil bunkering thrive.
He however acknowledged possible collaboration between oil thieves and some law enforcement agents involved in illegal activities of sabotage and vandalism but insisted that the FG is committed to identifying the perpetrators.
He said, “Oil theft is being tackled. The big problem we have in this country is that we ought to see more commitment from communities in assisting law enforcement agents. In some cases, where some actors in the law enforcement are complicit, it becomes worse,” he said.
Speaking on the inability of the country to achieve the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC’s production quota.
Malam Shehu said, “We used to fight the OPEC for more quotas; now, they have given us and we are not able to meet up. This is embarrassing. Security agencies are fully involved in stopping this act.
“I am hopeful that in the next few days, the office of the National Security Adviser will be presenting to the country, big men who are promoters of this kind of business as they are being caught and illegal refineries are being bombed out.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is also installing a monitoring capacity to detect or advise immediately when sabotage of oil pipelines happens,” the Presidential spokesperson confirmed.