A coalition of concerned Nigerians has urged President Bola Tinubu to investigate the allegations of crude oil theft, contract splitting, procurement fraud, and corruption practice against the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla.

The coalition, in a petition signed by some lawyers in the country – Pelumi Olajengbesi, Deji Adeyanju, Mohammed Suleiman SK, Aisha Waliki, and Ogunwoye Samson, called for an immediate investigation into the conduct of Ogalla, who is accused of engaging in large-scale corrupt practice.

The coalition, which submitted the petition to President Tinubu through the Office of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, expressed deep concern over the allegations.

“At a time when the country is grappling with significant revenue losses due to crude oil theft, it is distressing to discover that the Chief of Naval Staff, whose primary responsibility is to safeguard Nigeria’s waterways against oil theft and other forms of criminality, is allegedly involved in collusion with the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against the Nigerian state,” it said.

The coalition listed three areas forming the basis of their petition against Ogalla to include oil theft collusion, contract splitting and Procurement fraud, and corrupt practice.

On oil theft collusion, the coalition alleged that Naval officers under the control of Ogalla have not only participated in the theft of the nation’s crude oil but have also provided security to the criminals.

It listed specific incidents involving vessels engaged in crude oil theft, such as the MT PRAISEL vessel, where the Nigerian Navy allegedly allowed it to continue patrolling the Nigerian waterways under the protection of Navy officers headed by Ogalla.

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The coalition claimed to possess evidence, including an authenticated video showing the Nigerian Navy escorting the MT PRAISEL vessel at night.

The coalition also highlighted incidents involving the MT KALI and MT Tura vessels, where military gunboats purportedly belonging to the Nigerian Navy were seen protecting vessels engaged in crude oil theft.

It added the recent case of the MT VANNALARIS vessel allegedly loading crude oil illegally off Ondo State, with Nigerian Navy personnel preventing a private security firm from boarding or inspecting the vessel.

The coalition stressed that the “Nigerian Navy’s involvement in these cases of crude oil theft is consistent and alarming”, adding that the crude oil theft persists because the navy, led by Ogalla, is allegedly in collusion with criminals “and the corruption can be traced to the upper echelons of the Nigerian Navy”.

To effectively combat crude oil theft or reduce it to a minimum, the coalition insisted that Ogalla must be relieved of his duties.

On the allegation of contract splitting and procurement fraud, the coalition accused Ogalla of “not only engaging in oil theft but also dipping his fingers into procurement fraud and contract splitting, in violation of Nigeria’s procurement laws, particularly the Procurement Act.”

It further provided the details of 30 contracts awarded by the Nigerian Navy under Ogalla’s command to a single company, with each contract valued at $537,672.45, totaling over N8 billion.

“Contract splitting, which involves dividing a single contract into smaller pieces to bypass procurement regulations, is expressly forbidden by Section 20(2) of the Procurement Act,” the coalition added.

The coalition stressed that engaging in contract splitting is a criminal offence punishable by a minimum term of five years imprisonment, according to Section 58(1) of the Act.

It, therefore, called on President Tinubu to take decisive action to prevent further economic losses and ensure a thorough investigation into the allegations of corruption against the Chief of Naval Staff.

The Star