Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has dismissed the claim of the federal government that the stolen 400,000 oil barrels per day since 2013 was responsible for the drop in revenues accruing to states and local governments by 40 percent.
“From July 2013, the Federal Government announced to Nigerians that 400,000 barrels of crude oil were being stolen everyday and as a result, the revenue accruing to government to both tiers of government fell by 40 percent,” said Aregbesola.
The governor, who spoke at the celebration of life and book presentations of the Vice president of Nigeria Labour Congress Comrade Issa Obalowu Aremu in Ilorin, stated that Nigeria has lost N1.2 trillion between the specified period. He noted that the indiscipline in the oil sector and the ‘madness’ in the Middle East are responsible for the depression in the oil market.
Aregbesola pointed out that oil prices had fallen to record low, now selling below $50 per barrel. “I pray it would not be as low as 10 dollars; if that happens, Nigeria will be in such a dire situation that riding an Okada, as depressing and degrading as it is
will be a luxury.”