TheAttorney-General of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami,SANhassaid that 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 unique Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.

Malami saidthat the administration of PresidentMuhammaduBuhari is seriously cracking down on Crude Oil Theft with a view to lifting Investors’ confidence; mitigate attacks on terminals and the country’s territorial waters.

This wasdisclosed in a statementby Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justiceand made available to News Express yesterday.

Malamiwhostated this on Thursday in New York at the Nigeria International Partnership Forum with the theme ‘Scaling up International Economic Partnerships for Nigeria in a Post Covid - 19 World’, further informedthat the Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria hadtaken 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.

The forum was organized by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the African Business Roundtable, an offshoot of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly 2022 where the Minister spoke on the topic ‘International Action to Stop Crude Oil Theft:Proposed Measures and the Road Ahead’

According toMalami, 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 specialized 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” He said.

He added that the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising Security Officers from all the relevant Security Forces are committed to the eradication of illegal Artisanal Refineries in the Niger-Delta region as criminals involved in illegal refineries were responsible for about 25% of stolen crude.

The Justice ministernoted while prosecution of suspected criminals used to be a challenge, the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offenses (SPOMO) Act, 2019 provides legal backing for prosecution and punishment of offenders.

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) Meters to check flow and pressure rates and to generally improve measuring capabilities.” He said.

Healso saidthat 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, - all jointly collaborating to put an end to the menace of Oil theft in Nigeria.