The Nigerian senate has expressed concern over the financial haemorrhage in the oil and gas industry in the last sixty-one years which has led to a huge loss of revenue meant for the nation.
Sponsor of the motion, Senator George Thompson Sekibo alongside 29 others at Thursday’s plenary moved for ‘computerised oil facilities Management Gadgets to curb stealing in the oil sector.
Senator Sekibo who represents Rivers East Senatorial District emphasized that about 90% of the nation’s revenue was derived from oil and gas exploration and must be taken seriously by the government.
“You are aware that about 90% of Nigeria export revenue comes from oil, gas and associated products.
“Believes that Petroleum products business as the mainstay of our national economy ought to have been given priority attention in terms of protection.
“Worried that over 61 years in such business as a nation, Nigeria cannot give an account of the total amount of Petroleum products produced, total sold, total wasted, and the amount lost through pilfering or pipeline vandalisation.”
Sekibo added that corruption was better tackled through effective management of resources, noting that there is stealing at different levels.
Contributing to the motion, Senator Betty Jocelyn Apiafi representing Rivers West Senatorial District decried the level of pipeline vandalism.
She said it was in line with the global best practices for a complete computerization of the oil sector, adding that there are software to manage oil installations now.
Senator Gabriel Suswam in his contribution said oil production per day in Nigeria has been speculative thereby putting the budget implementation at risk.
According to him, corruption in the oil sector was due to the manually controlled systems, insisting “that the 21st-century oil and gas activities in Nigeria must be computerised.”
In his remarks, Senate President Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan said, the motion was a genuine effort to see that the country was not shortchanged.
He referred the motion to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Upstream, Oil and Gas as well as Committee on Finance for public hearing at a later date.
