Many senior members of the federal government have been invited by the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Oil Theft as part of its inquiry into the suspected loss of over $2.4 billion in revenue from the unlawful sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil export in 2015.
Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, and Boss Mustapha, the secretary general of the federation, are among the officials who were asked to participate in a Q&A session on Tuesday, according to Channels Television.
Sylva Okolieaboh, the interim Accountant General of the Federation, as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are among others who have also been called.
The committee is also concerned about the disparity in figures from crude oil sales from 2011 to 2014 and is accusing the minister of finance of approving payments to whistle-blowers in variance with the whistle-blower policy.
AGF, Interpol Interference?
The ad hoc House committee is looking into a whistleblower’s claim that 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s $2.4 billion worth of bonny light oil were sold illegally to China in 2015.
The committee accused Interpol and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami of interfering with the committee’s inquiry back in February.
The committee questioned why Interpol would send a whistleblower an invitation at the Ministry of Justice’s request so soon after the House probe had begun.
Garba Umar, the Director of Interpol Nigeria’s National Central Bureau, asserted that the Bureau just responded to the AGF’s request.
The Chairman, House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft, Mark Gbillah said, “There is a group called Advocacy for Good Governance and Free Nigeria.
“It is the so-called Civil Society Organization, which in a letter to the Attorney General, claimed that a global gang of extortionists was attempting to extort senior government officials.
“Why did the Attorney General respond to accusations made by a body without a face? That indicates that the Attorney General did not independently verify the legitimacy of any organization.
The Committee charged the AGF with interfering with the House’s probe because it was unhappy with Interpol’s reply.
The Committee feared the safety of the whistleblower and insisted that the Ministry of Justice should not be making direct requests to Interpol but should go through the police, as Interpol by law is only expected to respond to requests by local law enforcement agencies.
