Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu believes that Nigerians who steal the nation’s crude oil, particularly through vessels that go through its territorial seas, should be apprehended by the government and security agencies in Nigeria.
This was said by Elumelu in an interview that the Financial Times released on Friday.
Elumelu, who dreads oil theft, claimed that the threat was a factor in foreign oil corporations pulling out of Nigeria.
He added that once criminal gangs started stealing crude from his pipelines, he personally witnessed why major oil firms were partially withdrawing from their onshore holdings.
When Elumelu’s company was forced to halt production in 2022, he resorted to social media and tweeted, asking how it was that over 95% of oil production was going to thieves. “Consider the Bonny Terminal, which should receive more than 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day but only receives 3,000 barrels, forcing the operator, Shell, to issue a force majeure statement. Nigeria’s inability to reach its output quota for OPEC is not due to a lack of investment, but rather to outright theft,” he stated.
“Meanwhile, oil-producing countries are smiling as their foreign reserve is rising. What is Nigeria’s problem? We need to hold our leaders more accountable!”
Elumelu, who expressed optimism in an interview with Financial Times, noted that 18% of the crude extracted from his field is still stolen by oil thieves.
“42,000 barrels of crude pumped out daily. Theft still takes away about 18 per cent of production, he stated.
Asked who is behind the theft, he replied, “This is oil theft, we’re not talking about stealing a bottle of Coke you can put in your pocket. The government should know, they should tell us. Look at America — Donald Trump was shot at and quickly they knew the background of who shot him. Our security agencies should tell us who is stealing our oil. You bring vessels to our territorial waters and we don’t know?”
The 61-year-old Heirs Holdings founder described how President Muhammadu Buhari’s prior administration reportedly prevented him from purchasing an oilfield.
He revealed that after raising $2.5 billion to buy a different oilfield, Heirs Holdings had been eyeing the oilfield since 2017.
In a surprise move, he asserted that the agreement was thwarted by the late Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and former President Buhari.
He claimed he was informed Nigeria could not permit something so strategically significant to end up in the hands of a private company.
He continued, “This defied logic,” because he would have been buying it from a foreign business.
Elumelu, one of the few Nigerians to have achieved success outside the oil industry, disclosed that he purchased a forty-five percent share in an oilfield three years ago when foreign oil companies, including Shell, Total, and Eni, were liquidating their shallow water holdings in Nigeria.
The purpose of this purchase was to provide energy security to the nation during a period of low power supply.
“We wanted to become a Fortune 500 company and we estimated what we needed. It’s not naira, it’s huge dollars. Energy security is crucial for a country that doesn’t produce enough electricity for its roughly 200 million citizens,” he added.
Speaking on the japa syndrome, Elumelu declared, “I support it, totally. “I don’t have a problem with people saying ‘I’m going to Canada, UK or US.’
“Joblessness is the betrayal of a generation. You’ve gone to school and come back with your dreams and aspirations and you don’t have the opportunity . For people who decide to find solutions elsewhere, no one should stop them. But for those who decide to stay, they should try to create an impact and build a legacy.”
