News: N-Assembly to enact law on oil theft

The National Assembly is contemplating a legislation to curb illegal oil bunkering in the country, speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has said.


Tambuwal spoke at the closing ceremony of a three-day 10th regional meeting of the African Caribbean Pacific and European Union, ACP-EU, Joint Parliamentary Assembly, weekend.

The speaker, who noted that the trend was negatively  affecting the country’s economy and finances, said the twin evil of oil theft which amounts to loss of about 400.000 barrels of oil per day and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea placed the country and Africa at large in a vulnerable position.

He, however, remarked that the recent meeting of African Heads of States in Yaounde, Cameroon, was a commendable move to checkmate the menace.

He said: “The problems of oil theft, illegal oil bunkering and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea are matters deserving of collaborative and co-operative approaches of our countries and the international community to tackle head-long”.

“The regional summit of some African Heads of State that held recently in Yaounde, Cameroon, is one such positive response to an alarming development which if not checked, has adverse implications for regional and global security, supply of oil and revenues accruable to our governments.”

Tambuwal solicited the cooperation of all parliaments across   the world   to join hands   in sanctioning oil companies, local cartels and the international syndicates that engaged in the nefarious act.

For our part, the National Assembly of Nigeria is considering a legislation to deal decisively with this menace and we call for the cooperation of all parliaments the world over to join in sanctioning oil companies and other persons engaged in this nefarious act,” he stated.

The speaker also told the visiting ACP-EU parliamentarians that the Nigerian government had taken extreme measures to stem the tide of insecurity in the country.

He recalled the imposition of state of emergency currently on the three northern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as one of the measures taken by the government.