Alleged economic sabotage and the task before the Bamidele-led probe panel

By Atekojo Samson Usman

Clearly, Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in the last six decades has been laced with suspicion and the lack of confidence by Nigerians, analysts and industry stakeholders, due to sharp practices that often led to draw-backs despite the government’s effort to develop the industry being the mainstay of the economy.

Though, oil was discovered for the first time in Oloibiri in today’s Bayelsa State in 1958, in the South South Nigeria, with International Oil Companies, IOCs dominated the oil exploration and excavation afterwards, Nigeria’s oil and gas industry story has been a sad one and cannot boast of development to an enviable level due to inherent management challenges.

The discovery gave credence to the first law known as ‘Petroleum Act’ which came into force on 27th November, 1969, to address challenges, regulate and strengthen the industry. This however, did not erode challenges of pipeline vandalism, agitation, sabotage, reign of oil cartels and buccaneers who ensured the industry was brought to ‘bended knees’.

Over time, the inadequacy of the Act has never helped in bringing saboteurs to justice and the menace continued until the oil and gas industry slipped away from government control into hands of criminals, such that it has never been seen that Nigeria has met with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC quarter in crude oil productions.

Attempts by successive democratic governments, particularly from 1999 to rejig and reposition the industry to the advantage of Nigeria’s economy has been met with brutal resistance by oil cartels who are sabotaging the industry in cahoots with government officials. When the three government’s owned oil refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri went down finally, several attempts by the military and civilian administration to revive them always ended up in fiasco. After several budgetary allocations, the fund would eventually go down the drain pipe with ‘cock and bull’ story after.

In deft moves to tackle the malaise, the 10th Senate in the last one year after inauguration has been concerned about the deafening cry of economic sabotage with accusation and counter accusation of the petroleum industry officials.

In a motion sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, representing Cross River South Senatorial District, urging Senate to wade into the matter of economic sabotage in the oil sector, it was resolved that an Ad-hoc Committee be set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding alleged economic sabotage that is taking a toll on the nation.

The crux of the motion was the alleged importation of dirty, toxic and sulfurized petroleum substances into the country in connivance with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited officials at the upstream and downstream levels of the sector.

Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio, consequently inaugurated a 15-man Adhoc Committee on 3rd July, 2024 with the Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, as Chairman to investigate and revert to the Committee of the whole within six-weeks.

A look at the mandate of the Bamidele-led Adhoc Committee, viz: “Examine the pre-shipment and pre-discharge standard test parameters adopted by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority with a view to uncovering loopholes, if any, being exploited to get toxic cargoes into the country;

“Determine the level of compliance of the NNPCL’s Direct Sale and Director Purchase, DSP, arrangements in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, including the extent of transparency and accountability in the scheme;

“Beam legislative searchlight on the activities of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, including payments made to transporters in the last 10 years.

“Enquire from the NNPCL the state/status of the 22 depots built by the defunct NNPC to eliminate road distribution of petroleum products;

“Engage with stakeholders within the oil and gas industry with a view to identifying possible gaps in regulating and strengthening the surveillance and monitoring structures in place to enable Nigeria to detect violations of best practice standards in the importation of products before they enter into the domestic supply chain;

“Also engage with the NNPCL with a view to understanding the extent of its determination and timelines for the start-up of government funded oil refineries; among others.”

A look at the mandate of the Committee shows how complex and herculean the investigation could be given that surreptitious activities of buccaneers and cartels in the industry has defied known approach including the much celebrated “Petroleum Industry Act”, which came into being in 2021 after the bill was caught up in crossfire of interest and could not be passed for 13 years.

Though the Act was meant to provide legal framework, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry and development of host communities, it is not an understatement to say that nothing significantly has changed since 2021 of the PIA regime till date.

Lately, the question of $1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery by the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration has been in the public discourse with no one to address the issue despite assurances by the Group Chief Executive/Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Engr. Mele Kyari.

At the Senate Ad-hoc Committee’s 1-day Stakeholders meeting to commence investigation of the “Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry”, penultimate week, Senator Bamidele lamented the unfair treatment of government businesses.

He however said, nobody was on trial and urged all stakeholders to cooperate with the panel and avail all necessary documents that would assist in carrying out a discreet investigation.

Bamidele observed that the federation “is undergoing a truly challenging period,” pointing out that the distribution and supply of refined petroleum products “has been irregular and problematic in the recent history of our fatherland.”

“The long queues at filling stations are obviously a testament to this challenge. A situation, whereby we now depend almost entirely on the importation of these products, even when we daily supply the global oil market no fewer than two percent of its crude oil requirements, is to say the least, highly worrisome.

“We also have at hand a grievous issue of national concern that directly borders on the importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.”

Speaking at the session, the NNPCL boss, Kyari refuted allegations of sabotage and wished that legislative investigation of the agency be transmitted live on national television stations for Nigerians to watch.

He expressed frustration over what he described as a media attack on his person and management staff of the NNPCL, emphasizing that officials of the company are not thieves or criminals.

He said: “Mr Chairman I will wait for the public hearing and I also agree with the Minister that it should be broadcast live so that Nigerians will hear us. So that all the misinformation that you see today will be put to rest, so that Nigerians will know the truth.

“All of us here will see what is happening in the media. The targeted attack on my person, on the institution, and we all know how this works, they are deliberate, they are calculated.

“So that the impression that NNPCL and our leadership are doing anything to create economic sabotage in our country, is far from that, Mr Chairman”, Kyari said.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun; Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Malam Melee Kyari; Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr. Gbenga Komolafe and Chief Executive Office, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, among others.

Earlier, at a question and answer session, journalists expressed concerns that the exercise may go the way of previous ones, where nothing is heard after investigation until the session will elapse.

Reacting, a member of the Ad-hoc Committee and Senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi assured that the report of the investigation will be laid on the floor of the Senate for further legislative attention.

He also promised that the Committee will expose anyone found sabotaging government effort in the Petroleum industry, even if the “person is a sitting Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.”