Nigeria’s Minister of Finance: Nigeria lost 14 Billion Dollars to oil theft, subsidy fraud in 2011
Posted on 29 June 2012.
President Goodluck Jonathan
Pictorial exposure of the kind of theft that may be happening within the Nigerian Government headed by President Goodluck Jonathan
Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has disclosed that Nigeria lost $14 billion in 2011 to oil theft and fraud in the allocation of a controversial fuel subsidy.
In an interview with Financial Times of London, the Finance Minister said the trade in stolen oil led to a 17 per cent fall in official oil sales in April, or about 400,000 barrels per day.
“We have to get very serious about the bunkering issue. If we can stop the amount that is stolen, we can beef up the excess crude account faster,” she said, referring to the rainy-day account where savings accrue above a benchmark price for oil, set at $72. This holds more than $4bn, Okonjo-Iweala said.
But those funds could be targeted to supplement this year’s budget for the fuel subsidy which has already been largely depleted.
Culled from a Nigerian newspaper, Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment
EAGLE EYE REPORT CROSS-FIRE AND DISCLAIMER:
Comments or opinions made here are not those of the publisher.
Publisher is not liable for the comments or opinions expressed by readers.
Be bold and include your name at the end of your comments.
No abusive, racist, or discriminatory comments.