It is with rude shock and disappointment that we read the Press Release issued by the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media to the effect that the President has signed an Executive Order allegedly aimed at carrying out further Reforms in the Oil and Gas (Petroleum) Sector of Nigeria with the reported sole aim of encouraging more foreign and local investments into this sector. This planned reform is only about providing more Fiscal Incentives to interested foreign and local investors in this sector.
As an Organisation that has experts in petroleum operations and business particular in the Upstream Sector and has for over three decades been involved in the monitoring of the operations of the various oil companies and NNPC in the Nigerian Sector, we here declare that this Executive Order is suicidal to our Nation’s hope for urgent economic recovery and our desire for increase in foreign earnings to halt the free fall of our national currency, the Naira. We are very convinced that Mr President was wrongly advised on this and therefore we call on him to rescind his decision and have this Order, dropped.
OUR OBJECTION TO THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER IS PREMISED ON THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
This Executive Order (further Fiscal Incentives) is not needed at all because if implemented, would deny Nigerians and Nigeria the urgently and much needed Foreign Earnings needed to shore up the value of our naira that has sadly been on free fall in recent months against foreign currencies causing unprecedented level of socio-economic hardship across Nigeria and threat to our National Security, knowing full well that the Petroleum Sector provides over 90% of the total foreign income needed to accelerate socio-economic growth, development and stability of Nigeria.
It is also a fact known and acknowledged by Petroleum Experts across the globe that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Sector is the most lucrative in the world guaranteeing the highest Rate of Return (Profit) on Investment primarily because of the relatively low cost of production and the fact that it is almost a free for all Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Companies to loot and steal crude oil and deliberately under-declare and not even declare the actual quantity of crude oil and gas they produce and export. This is the reason for recent rush by the Multinational Oil Companies and some Nigerian owned Companies to Offshore Fields where they operate virtually unchecked by Nigeria. The recent move by SHELL Petroleum International to divest or sell off its Niger Delta Onshore Assets and Operations in order to move and concentrate Offshore further confirms this.
It is also a fact that the multinational and local oil and gas producing companies operating in Nigeria and particularly in its deep offshore fields have since the 1990s been awarded so many unmerited and unjustified fiscal and tax incentives by the Federal Government of Nigeria causing Nigerian to lose billions of Dollars it would have accrued to it from the exploitation of crude oil in these fields. It is for this reason that the National Assembly recently reviewed some of these incentives and made the Petroleum Industry Act in order to rightly increase Nigeria’s share of the profit accruing from these fields. Why then do the promoters of this Executive Order seek to reverse this if not for their selfish interests at the expense of Nigeria?
While we sincerely appreciate the intention of President Tinubu to increase expected foreign revenues accruing from the exploration and exploitation of our nation’s oil and gas, we hasten to say that achieving this is simply by exercising his powers as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources to declare total and full war against the perpetrators and perpetuators of Decades of Massive Crude Oil Theft, Looting, Fraud, and Corruption in Multinational and Local Petroleum Companies operating in Nigeria as well as in the NNPC now NNPCL. According to reports made public, an estimated over 80% of expected daily revenue from this sector has been and still being lost to these persons better referred to as Petro-Terrorists.
It is therefore our humble Advice and demand on him to immediately discontinue with this proposed Executive Order on the Petroleum Sector. In its place he should urgently sponsor an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to completely delete the sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which established from the long existing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, NNPCL, which is clearly a worst danger to the progress and development of the Petroleum Sector and Nigeria. We either kill the NNPCL now or it will kill Nigeria.
What is also needed now is return to NNPC as it was established in the early 1970s and be made to operate strictly in line with the Aims and Objective of OPEC. IT MUST OPERATE IN VERY TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE MANNER AND ALL ITS INCOMES BE PAID INTO THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. There should be very severe sanctions put in place for any staff who engages in Economic and Financial Crimes against NNPC and Nigeria. Death Penalty should not be ruled out!
It is our prayer that under his Leadership, OUR NIGERIA SHALL OVERCOME AND MUST RISE AGAIN.
COMRADE (ENGR) IGBINI ODAFE EMMANUEL.
National President,
Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy (VATLAD)