Excess crude account not shared in 18 months -----Oshiomhole
(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of
Edo State on Wednesday, said that the inability of the Federal Government to share excess crude
account in the last 18 months has distorted the developmental plans of the
state governments.
Speaking during a visit of the
Association of Enigies from Edo South to him, Oshiomhole said, “Over
the past 18 months, we have not shared the excess crude account and yet, the
account is empty. Sometimes we are told they have taken money from it to fund
subsidies including subsidy on kerosene but your royal highnesses, there is
nowhere in your various domains where kerosene is sold for N50. So in the name
of subsidy, large sums of money are being stolen.
“Things are tough now around
the country because the Federal Government mismanaged our national resources
and what is being stolen, nobody agrees it is being stolen. What is arguable is
who is responsible for this stealing. When the Federal Government and the
President talk about oil theft and the amount that is allegedly stolen is huge
such that whereas we have the capacity to produce about 2.4 million barrels a
day, what accrues into the federal government account is less than 1.8 million
barrel a day.
“From the last time we had a
meeting, the handouts they distributed shows that sometime for a period of two
weeks, we were losing as much as 700,000 barrels a day and that has been on for
the past twelve years. I am not able to understand why, suddenly, Nigeria
cannot protect its territorial waters because the boundaries have not changed
and the people are still the same and at the peak of the so-called militancy,
we were still exporting about 2 million barrels a day.
“Then how can we explain that
after we have resolved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, we have
rehabilitated the ex-militants and even awarded contracts to them, that we are
losing as much crude oil as that to oil thieves and to the best of my
knowledge, there is no major known person who has been prosecuted and convicted
for oil theft in a way that reflects the magnitude of what is allegedly stolen
“What this means is that our
budgets have not performed over the past 3 years whereas the budgets have been
based on an average of between $77 to $78 and $79 a barrel. The average price
of Nigeria’s sweet crude has been around $108 per barrel. That gives a surplus
of over $30. Ideally, we ought to be saving $36 per barrel and 2.3 million
barrel a day over the past three years and if you look at these numbers you
will find that hat we have in our excess crude oil account should be over $30billion
but as we speak, we have barely $3 billon in our excess crude account.
“Now oil price has dropped
to $60 and because we have not saved, the naira is undergoing devaluation. Already
as low as N180 per dollar and I believe by February when the elections are
over, nobody is going to want to hold the naira. Wherever the election goes, I
expect that the naira will hit over N200 per dollar. The inflationary
consequence of that is prices of everything will go up and part of the vicious cycle
of the devalued naira in the manner that is being done is that the price of petroleum
products imported in dollars will go up in naira and government will be asking
people who are already poor to pay more money for petroleum products.
“I see this vicious cycle
setting in and people are likely to get poorer and that will lead to more
tension and we already have our fair share of insecurity.”
He urged the royal fathers to
pray for Nigeria, saying “the year that is coming is going to be a very tough
one. Pray for Nigeria, 2015 will be tough”.
On the ongoing projects in
the state, the Governor said the Central Hospital complex will be completed and
ready for use by August next year, while contractors will be mobilized to site
on the 2nd East Circular road in the new year. Also, the Governor
said 16 roads have been identified in the GRA for immediate rehabilation and
contractors have already bid for the projects, saying the roads will be completely
fixed in the first half of next year.
He said, “It’s not that
government is unwillingly to work on roads in GRA but because of the lean
financial resources.”
Responding, the Ogiegbaen of
Egbaen commended the governor for the achievements recorded so far by his administration.
He pledged that the Enigies will continue to support his government with
prayers and advice to enable him succeed.
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