The vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the March 28 election, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has alleged that Nigeria loses an average of N3.1trillion worth of crude oil to corruption on an annual basis. He stressed that corruption and stealing are the core of Nigeria’s problems.
The Senior Advocate disclosed this in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, yesterday, while making a presentation of his party’s 2015 manifesto on Securing Nigeria’s Future before APC’s Youth Interactive Town Hall Meeting.
Decrying the level of corruption in the country as too high, Osinbajo feared that no country can survive under the current rate of stealing being witnessed in Nigeria.
Osinbajo, who cited the federal government’s confirmation that over 400,000 barrels of crude oil are stolen every day, asserted that Nigeria’s problem is not lack of resources but corruption and stealing.
He said: “The government of today has tried to give the impression that the problem of the country is that of falling oil prices, which is now below $50 per barrel but that is not the problem. The problem is the corruption and stealing”.
“Nigeria’s problem is not resources but the management of resources is our main problem. We must put in place a responsible government who will hold those managing the country’s resources accountable.”
The vice presidential flag bearer recalled that when former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi revealed that $20 billion was missing, he was removed from office by the PDP-led federal government. He added that another ex-CBN governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, not only confirmed the missing money, but updated the figure to N30 trillion.
The pastor-turned politician, who recalled that when oil price was $38 per barrel, Nigeria had external reserve of $62bn, lamented that for five years when the oil prices hovered from $100 to $168 per barrel, the nation’s external reserve dropped to $32bn.