Striking notes from the probe reports – as highlighted by participants at the training.
- Most participants believe that both reports reflect a culture of impunity in the Nigerian system.
- Nigeria sells petroleum resources instead of refining and selling finished products which would amount to following best practices among other oil producing countries. This alone speaks volumes of the amount of waste and corruption that is going on in the sector.
- the reports were silent on crucial issues e.g. what goes on in BOTH the downstream and upstream sectors of the oil and gas industry.
- irregularities with reports from the different committees speak volumes about the level of corruption in the sector
- NNPC is the major distributor of kerosene; why pay subsidies, especially when the majority of Nigerians use kerosene. This speaks volumes about how responsible our government is especially to its people.
Speaking on the Ribadu report, a participant noted that there are no proper structures for the collection of penalty fees for gas flaring and the fee is ridiculously low as compared to the effects on Nigerians.
- Kerosene is important in the north; 2/3 of kerosene produced is consumed in the North
- The report shows lots of shortchanging by the NNPC; many companies lifting oil without license. Neither are there accurate records of the amount of flaring happening while the consequences are in our faces and within us.
- Nigeria loses millions to deals with international companies: Nigeria sells low and buys refined oil at international rate
- The reports show that there is no record of the actual consumption of petroleum resources by Nigeria hence it is almost impossible to have a concrete plan for petrol consumption and export. This has huge implications for corruption too.
- The patterns in the Nigerian law and acts of parliament – e.g. the NNPC as being available for slush funds, with no clear-cut purpose for its existence – makes room for corruption.
- The law must be ahead of criminals. As a way forward, collation of records should be more advanced; should be automated.
- It is important to employ technologies to track happenings in the sector; to track vessels from the starting to the last point.
- The reports are reflective of the culture of impunity. It appears that the reports and the resources that went into putting them together were a complete waste as no action in the corrective direction has been taken to adopt the recommendations and/or act on them.
- Both reports speak of failure of regulatory agencies and the lack of experts to analyse the rot in the sector.
- Record-keeping by all involved: the regulatory bodies, marketers, etc. is badly done and shows deliberate acts to cover up corrupt practices.
- Companies suddenly sprang up solely to enjoy the subsidy; perhaps the subsidy idea was laced with giving an opportunity for corruption in its varied forms.