NNPC Is Nigeria's Biggest Arena Of Theft - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the NNPC as the biggest avenue for stealing the country's resources.

He told the BBC that he dissolved the board of the corporation in order to address this situation.

“The biggest area of stealing of Nigeria’s funds was through NNPC, which is the apex oil selling corporation. That was why we dissolved their board and brought someone who knows the oil sector very well, but who is not from NNPC and entrusted him with the leadership of the NNPC. And instead of the eight major departments, four were liquidated and four continue to exist. This is because, for the past 10 years, the crude oil stealing has been going on using some vessels. By law, their owners, captains and where they are taking the crude must be known.

“So, the method for the crude oil stealing was that those involved shipped the crude through smaller vessels and then transfer the crude to the larger vessels at distant locations in the ocean, before they head to other countries. Some of them carry the crude but later change the destination.

“Our new approach is to get support from European countries, the US and China. Those doing the bunkering, you need to know the amount first and the banks they deposit the monies, etc. These are the things we are doing currently. And you know, those developed countries are strict on evidences and you have to show the evidences of such cases before they can assist you. If you recall, during the military regimes, such people were arrested, thoroughly interrogated and arraigned before the courts with evidences.

“But that is impossible now. It is democracy and even the foreign countries, where the money is being taken to, practice democracy. The companies involved in buying the crude and the banks that kept the money would be identified so that we would determine whether they are Nigerians or not; whether the stolen crude and its quantity was actually taken from here, sold with the Nigerian name and how what accrued to Nigeria was diverted.

“So, the situation is a complex one,but we are getting support from governments of those countries, including their security agencies. When we get the relevant documents, we would bring them (culprits) back to our courts and try them. We would then show the evidence to the world that the crude oil they traded was actually stolen or shipped with Nigerian name but later changed the papers and took away the money, instead of depositing them into the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The President promised that Nigerians would soon witness the prosecution of looters of the country's resources.