The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, says Nigeria is making concerted efforts in addressing oil theft including spending enormous resources on pipeline surveillance security through the regular Armed Forces budgetary spending, and payments to Civilian Security Companies under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.

Malami stated this in New York, United States, on Thursday, at the Nigeria International Partnership Forum with the theme, ‘Scaling up International Economic Partnerships for Nigeria in a Post COVID-19 World’.

The forum was organised by the Federal Government and the African Business Roundtable, an offshoot of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

According to a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Assistant to the AGF on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Gwandu, the minister said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has taken operational and strategic measures to deal with the challenge through the signing into Law of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 (PIA) after several years of Legislative processing and cycles of review.

According to him, the PIA which seeks to provide legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry was one of the most audacious attempts to overhaul the petroleum sector in Nigeria.

“New specialised entities such as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPR) with clear mandates and statutory powers to handle specific responsibilities in their respective spheres of regulatory influence, were created under the PIA, among other innovations aimed at improving the Nigerian Oil and Gas landscape,” Malami said.

He added that the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising security operatives from all the relevant security forces are committed to the eradication of illegal artisanal refineries in the Niger-Delta region, saying criminals involved in illegal refineries were responsible for about 25% of stolen crude oil.

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Malami noted that the administration of President Buhari was cracking down on crude oil theft with a view to lifting investors’ confidence; mitigate attacks on terminals, and the country’s territorial waters.

The minister said while prosecution of suspected criminals was a challenge, the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offenses (SPOMO) Act, 2019 provides legal backing for prosecution and punishment of offenders.

He said: “The office of Attorney-General of the Federation remains committed to effective prosecution of all crude oil theft and related cases, including high-profile ones. On a similar note, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is equally currently prosecuting hundreds of cases bordering on oil theft. All these show a serious resolve by the Nigerian Government to punish offenders.

“As recent as 13th August 2022, the NNPC Ltd, launched an application to check oil theft, called ‘Crude Theft Monitoring Application’. The NUPRC is also determined to tackle the menace through Technology with the use of Lease Automatic Custody Transfer (LACT) Metres to check flow and pressure rates and to generally improve measuring capabilities.”

Malami added that there was also an ongoing multi-agency collaboration involving the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NUPRC, NPMDA, Nigerian Ports Authority, Ports Health Authority, Nigerian Immigration Service, Shipment Inspection Units to put an end to the menace of oil theft in Nigeria.

The Star