The nation’s economy is currently in a precarious position following the admittance of the Federal Government that estimated 400,000 barrels of crude oil are being lost daily to illegal bunkering, vandalism of infrastructure and halt in production.
As a result, revenue accruing to the Federation Account is fast dwindling amid fears that the Federal Government may not be able to implement the 2013 budget.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Appropriation/Finance in Abuja on Tuesday in response to a summons, revealed the revenue shortfall.
Okonjo-Iweala said, “We are losing revenue; 400,000 barrels of crude oil are lost on a daily basis due to illegal bunkering, vandalism and production shut-in.
“I have to clarify that it is not as if the entire 400,000 barrels is stolen, no. What happens is that whenever the pipelines are attacked and oil is taken, there is a total shut down. All the quantity of oil produced for that day will be lost because it means government cannot sell it and it means a drop in revenue.”
The minister explained that this was the reason President Goodluck Jonathan sought to amend the 2013 Appropriation Act as against sending a supplementary budget to the National Assembly.
She argued that the government was contending with revenue shortfalls and could not afford a supplementary budget.
Okonjo-Iweala told the committee, “You cannot talk of supplementary budget when your revenue is going down.
“That is why we are asking for an amendment to restore the money that was removed.”
The Presidency and the National Assembly have had a running battle over the former’s amendmentsproposals to the 2013 budget.
Jonathan had asked the lawmakers to restore the N80bn slashed from the N4.9tn budget proposals sent to the National Assembly last year.
But, lawmakers rejected Jonathan’s request and instead advised him to forward a supplementary budget to the legislature.
On budget performance, Okonjo-Iweala claimed that 67 per cent of capital project implementation had been achieved.
She arrived at the percentage by saying that N600bn had been released to government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies so far, with N587.7bn cash-backed.
The minister clarified that there was no dispute with the lawmakers over constituency projects as widely speculated.
“So, I want to say that constituency project has not been an issue,” she added.
Okonjo-Iweala said her recent comment was to the effect that government might not be able to pay salaries by September if the budget was not amended.
The session was jointly chaired by Mr. John Enoh and Mr. Abdulmumini Jibrin.
Also on Tuesday, the House of Representatives summoned the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to appear before its Committee on Justice.
Adoke is to appear over a statement credited to him implying that the House had cleared him of any wrongdoing in the controversial sale of Oil Prospecting Licence 245.
About $1.09bn was reportedly paid in a deal facilitated by the Federal Government in 2011 for Shell and Agip to take over 100 per cent control of the oil well.
OPL 245 originally belonged to Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, an indigenous firm.
The House resolution asked the minister to appear before the committee to “clarify the source of the document where he was cleared of all illegality and constitutional breaches in respect of OPL 245.”
The Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Sampson Osagie, who brought Adoke’s alleged claim to the attention of lawmakers, stated that it was contained in a presentation the minister made to a United States group last week.
Owing to allegations that Nigeria’s national interests were not protected in the deal, the House set up an ad hoc committee in December 2012 to investigate the transaction.
The committee, which is chaired by the Deputy Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, submitted the report of its findings last Wednesday.
Osagie expressed surprise that Adoke could claim that a report yet to be considered by the Houseexonerated him of wrongdoing.
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