By Gabriel Omoh & Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, in
Abuja said that his administration has identified banks,
financial institutions and countries in which payments for
stolen Nigerian crude oil have been deposited.
Speaking at an audience with visiting United States
Congressmen, President Buhari acknowledged the support
and cooperation his administration was getting from the
international community in gathering required intelligence
for tracing and recovering stolen national resources.
The President, according to a statement signed by his
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina,
told the Congressmen led by Rep. Darrel Issa: “We are
getting cooperation from the international community,
including information on ships that take crude oil from
Nigeria and change direction, or pour their contents into
other ships mid-stream. Some monies were paid to
individual accounts. We are identifying the financial
institutions and countries that are involved. I have been
assured that when we get all our documents together, the
United States and other countries will treat our case with
sympathy.”
President Buhari told the Congressmen that his
Administration will welcome more regular meetings of the
Nigeria-United States Bi-National Commission. He noted
that the Commission could serve as a more useful platform
for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations
as well as joint cooperation in the war against terrorism.
Rep. Darrel assured him that the United States will support
Nigeria against Boko Haram by providing training,
intelligence and military platforms.
“We look forward to helping you in many ways to end the
Boko Haram insurgency and the theft of crude oil in the Gulf
of Guinea,” he said.
Nigeria, the world’s seventh largest producer of crude oil,
accounts for about 68.1 per cent of the total revenue Africa
lost in a decade as a result of illegal transfer of funds
abroad.
N10.08trillion lost in 10 years
The report of the Thabo Mbeki High Level Panel on Illicit
Financial Flows from Africa adopted by African Union Heads
of State and Government at their summit in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia said about $40.9billion (about N6.87trillion) of an
estimated $60billion (about N10.08trillion) lost through such
transfers from Africa in a decade (2001-2010) was traced to
Nigeria.
The funds are stolen through corruption, tax evasion and
illegal transfer of profits by multinationals, the AU said.
Nigeria, which produces an average of 2.3million barrels of
oil daily as the leading hydrocarbon producer in Africa, is
being ravaged by poverty and underdevelopment.
Cumulatively, Nigeria and Egypt topped the list of 10 African
countries by illicit financial transfers between 1970 and
2008, with $217.7billion (about N36.57trillion), or 30.5 per
cent, and $105.2billion (about N17.67trillion), or 14.7 per
cent respectively, while South Africa had $81.8billion (about
N13.74trillion), or 11.4 per cent.
In its 15-point findings, the panel noted that ending illicit
financial flows is a political decision by the various
governments as it involved issues of abusive transfer
pricing, trade mis-invoicing, tax evasion, aggressive tax
avoidance, double taxation, tax incentives, unfair contracts,
financial secrecy, money laundering, smuggling, trafficking
and abuse of entrusted power.
The interrelationships of these issues, it stated, conferred a
technical character requiring transparency across all
aspects to ensure access to information and the right to
obtain such information.
It will be recalled that there has been reports that stolen
Nigerian oil worth billions of dollars is sold every year on
international markets and much of the proceeds are
laundered in world financial centers like Britain and the
United States which officials said will help President Buhari
to recover the funds. An estimated 100,000 barrels per day
(bpd) of oil was stolen from pipelines in the Niger Delta, the
report by London-based Chatham House said, not including
the unknown quantities stolen from export terminals.
Theft of crude oil
The theft amounts to around 5 per cent of Nigeria’s current
2 million bpd production but has a wider impact because oil
companies are often forced to shut down pipelines due to
damage caused by thieves. The activity costs Nigeria’s
economy an estimated $5 billion a year in potential revenue.
While oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni are
often the first to complain about theft, it is unclear how
much they are losing from it. A measure of acceptable
losses may be keeping them from taking determined
preventive action, the report said. Oil firms do not pay
royalties on stolen oil.
“Nigerian crude oil is being stolen on an industrial scale.
Proceeds are laundered through world financial centers and
used to buy assets in and outside Nigeria,” said the 70-page
report, entitled “Nigeria’s Criminal Crude”. Thieves have
many ways to disguise funds … including cash smuggling,
delayed deposits, use of middlemen, shell companies and
tax havens, bribery of bank officials, cycling cash through
legitimate businesses and cash purchases of luxury goods.”
The report named the United States, Britain, Dubai,
Indonesia, India, Singapore and Switzerland as likely money-
laundering hotspots, and the United States, Brazil, China,
Thailand, Indonesia and the Balkans as the most likely
destination for stolen oil.
Former Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke had called for
stolen oil to be labeled “blood oil”, arguing that the security
risk is similar to those in past and present mineral conflict
zones such as Angola, Sierra Leone or Congo.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Saturday said that the
Global financial integrity group has said that about $15.7
billion illicit money pass through Nigeria annually. This
makes Nigeria one of the top 10 countries for illicit financial
flow. As a result, banks in the country have reacted by
rejecting foreign currency deposits, saying that it has
increased its vigilance on illegal financial flow.
A statement issued by Ibrahim Mu’azu, Director, Corporate
Communications of the CBN said: “The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) notes with concern a recent report by the
Global Financial Integrity group, which ranks Nigeria as one
of the 10 largest countries for illicit financial flows in the
world. Although we do not have an independent
confirmation of this assertion, the report estimates that
about $15.7 billion of illicit funds go through our system
annually.
“In the light of this avoidably negative commentary, we wish
to draw the public’s attention to several protocols on illicit
fund flows, money laundering, and terrorism financing
both in Nigeria and around the world, and warn that the
CBN will increase its vigilance to ensure that Nigerian
banks are not used as conduits for illicit fund flows,
especially in foreign currencies.
“The CBN will continue to support the Federal Government’s
fight against money laundering, corruption, and terrorism
financing and will block any and every avenue that may
be used for these purposes. We will also ensure that
persons who venture into currency speculation and currency
substitution find it unattractive and dangerous. In these
efforts, therefore, we seek the continued cooperation of all
Nigerians to make this work for the enhancement of our
shared progress, rather than the prosperity of a greedy few
amongst us.”
Illicit financial flows in and out of Nigeria are mainly from
crude oil theft, proceed of corruption, tax evasion, over
invoicing of imports and inflated contracts.
The FGI report
According to the Financial Global Integrity report 2008-2012
released last month, “illicit financial flows from developing
countries are facilitated and perpetuated primarily by
opacity in the global financial system. This endemic issue is
reflected in many well-known ways, such as the existence of
tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, anonymous companies,
other legal entities, and innumerable techniques available to
launder dirty money such as through misinvoicing trade
transactions.
“This is, essentially, trade fraud and is often referred to as
trade-based money laundering when used to move the
proceeds of criminal activity.
“Of the estimated $1 trillion in measurable illicit outflows
each year, trade misinvoicing is the method most often
used to move funds offshore.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/we've-found-banks-with-stolen-oil-money/

Ok...Recover them as soon as possible

Oil money! Oil Money ! Oil Money! Oil Money is all we hear! what does the north have to offer to the federal purse especially in face of dropping oil Price

Chiaka:
Oil money! Oil Money ! Oil Money! Oil Money is all we hear! what does the north have to offer to the federal purse especially in face of dropping oil Price

Oh because its oil money, some people should go ahead and continue to steal?, you are one of them, you are a thief.

7lives:


Oh because its oil money, some people should go ahead and continue to steal?, you are one of them, you are a thief.

Start from those who illegally assigned oil blocks to themselves and gurl friends you are a bigger thief for not using your head!

Chiaka:
Oil money! Oil Money ! Oil Money! Oil Money is all we hear! what does the north have to offer to the federal purse especially in face of dropping oil Price

What has d oil money done to your life ??
Now someone is fighting to make sure u feel the effect of oil money ur here writing gibberish.......


Baba ride on !!
While we elite nigerians fuel ur motor

sai baba iz working!
wailerz can go hug
transforma

I believe this discovery may be responsible for CBN's new policy not to accept dollar cash from commercial banks.

Many of those banks have some of our stolen dollars in their possession.

tucky200:

What has d oil money done to your life ??
Now someone is fighting to make sure u feel the effect of oil money ur here writing gibberish.......


Baba ride on !!
While we elite nigerians fuel ur motor

Is this deceit ful thing call Nigeria that has made the oil money not reach me.............north with all the numerous states contributes what?? Nonsense!

Chiaka:


Is this deceit ful thing call Nigeria that has made the oil money not reach me.............north with all the numerous states contributes what?? Nonsense!

Owe kay

Chiaka:
Oil money! Oil Money ! Oil Money! Oil Money is all we hear! what does the north have to offer to the federal purse especially in face of dropping oil Price

have u eating dis morning?

Plsee kirikiri straight