Following the signing of a law prescribing 10 years imprisonment for anyone who violently or forcefully enters into state-owned property by Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, the state government has set up a special court to prosecute such offenders.

Chairman, Edo State Public Property Protection Committee,
Eugene Okoloise, who disclosed this in Benin while briefing journalists on the new law, said over 500 state-owned properties have been recovered from individuals since he took over office.

Okoloise, who said he is passionate in making sure all government properties in the hands of individuals are recovered, warned that no one would be treated as a scared cow in his bid to recover government properties.

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He said, “Before now, there was no law empowering us to prosecute offenders. But now that the governor has signed this law, no excuse. Anyone caught would be prosecuted in accordance with the law. And to this effect, the government has set up a special court to prosecute anyone who sells or encroaches on government property.

“And I want to assure Edo people that anyone caught shall be prosecuted in accordance with the law, no matter how highly placed. We are not going to spare anyone or treat anyone especially for his or her status.”

He disclosed that to make the law known to the public, his committee has started enlightenment through media houses and a community-to-commununity enlightenment campaign.

“We are going to sensitise the general public including the rural dwellers that there is a new law to prosecute anyone that forcefully enters government property. I have plans of going round media houses to sensitise our people. Briefing you on the new law is part of the enlightenment campaign,” he said.

About $300billion of crude oil sales can’t be accounted for, according to an interim report by the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft in the Niger Delta.

The committee, which probed crude oil sales across several years, was chaired by Senator Ned Nwoko.

The Delta-North lawmaker presented the preliminary report of his findings to the Senate on Wednesday in Abuja.

The report noted that a forensic review of domestic crude proceeds and tax oil returns showed differentials, mismatches and unaccounted funds amounting to a staggering $22 billion.

Similarly, it uncovered a shortfall of $81 billion between receipts declared by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and those recorded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for 2016 and 2017, a development that shocked the Senate.

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Furthermore, the panel’s review of crude oil sales from 2015 to date, indicated that over $200bn in oil proceeds remained unaccounted for globally.

The report followed months of document reviews and public hearings, tracing the problem to faulty measurement systems, weak regulatory oversight, and poor coordination among government agencies.

The panel identified the use of unverified measuring instruments, lack of meteorological control, ineffective interagency collaboration, and uncoordinated enforcement mechanisms as major enablers of crude oil theft.

The panel also faulted the suspension of the Weights and Measures Department’s activities in the upstream sector under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, saying the decision undermined accountability and accurate measurement in crude oil operations.

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In addition, it noted that the absence of a special court to prosecute oil thieves and the non-implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund (HCDTF) under the PIA had contributed to persistent sabotage and theft in oil-producing areas.

The panel projected that the unaccounted domestic crude sales proceeds amount to about $300 billion, calling for urgent local and international tracking, tracing and recovery of stolen crude oil funds for the benefit of the country.

The committee appealed to the Federal Government to mandate the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to enforce international crude oil measurement standards at all production sites and export terminals or restore the Weights and Measures Department to its former regulatory role.

Moreover, it recommended that the government provide security agencies with modern surveillance technology and equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles, to strengthen monitoring of oil facilities and detect theft and leakages in real time.

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The panel called for the establishment of a Maritime Trust Fund to support the development and maintenance of maritime infrastructure, training and safety operations, as well as the creation of a special court to promptly prosecute crude oil thieves and their collaborators.

The Nwoko panel advised the immediate implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund (HCDTF) to reduce community sabotage and promote inclusion in the management of oil resources.

Besides, the committee expressed concern over the growing number of abandoned and poorly decommissioned oil wells across the Niger Delta, which it said were leaking oil and gas into the environment and polluting communities.

The report recommended that such wells be ceded to the NUPRC for handover to modular refineries to increase crude availability for local consumption and reduce vandalism.

But, it noted a modest recovery in crude oil production, which increased by 9.5 per cent in 2023 from 490.95 million barrels in 2022 to 537.57 million barrels, indicating an improvement in production and security conditions.

President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate to approve a ₦1.15 trillion loan to fund the 2025 budget.

The President wants to access the facility from the domestic market, according to a letter the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, read to senators on the floor in Abuja on Tuesday.

Tinubu explained that the proposed borrowing would be used to cover the deficit in the N54.99trillion budget.

He wrote, “I write to kindly request for the approval of the National Assembly to establish a N1,150,000,000.00 borrowing program in the domestic debt market to close the unfunded deficit gap created by the increase in the budget size over and above the prior approved revenue and borrowing plans.

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“This request is pursuant to the provisions of Section 44, Subsection 1 to 2 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, FRA, of 2007, which requires the approval of the National Assembly for all new borrowings by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“The distinguished President of the Senate may wish to note that the National Assembly passed a budget of N54.9 trillion, an increase of N5.25 trillion from the N49.74 trillion budget proposal by the Executive.

“This increase created a budget deficit of N14 trillion.

“However, the proposed borrowing approved in the budget was N12.95 trillion, which occasioned an unfunded deficit of N1.1 trillion.

“It is therefore necessary to increase the domestic borrowing limit in the 2025 budget by N1.147 trillion to close this gap.

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“Based on the foregoing, I wish to request for the approval of the Senate for the establishment of a N1,150,000,000 Naira borrowing program in the domestic debt market to close the unfunded 2025 budget deficit gap.

“A specimen of the approval required for this purpose is attached as an extra tool.”

Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt for more work.

The committee is chaired by Senator Aliyu Wammako (APC, Sokoto North)

Just last week, the National Assembly approved another presidential borrowing of $2.3 billion.