The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Implementation and Oversight of the Naira-for-Crude-Oil Policy, has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) to furnish it with the details crude oil seizures and disposal, it undertook.
The chairman of the committee, Emerengwa Boniface, gave the directive, at the resumed hearing of the panel,yesterday , after members said presentation by the anti graft agency was not detailed.
The Special Special Adviser to the EFCC Chairman on Regulatory Compliance,
Francis Usani, who appeared before the committee, had earlier told lawmakers that the submission by the commission was based on the letter it received from the committee.
Usani said:”The objective or the main crux of this invitation was investigations done under the Naira-for-crude policy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that took effect, or was initiated sometime in 2024, but took effect this year.
“We have not had any direct investigation or issue involving specifically Naira for crude policy or obstructions or infractions under that particular initiative.
“But because we also received information on referrals made to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, we had tabulated some transactions which the EFCC had done and contained in the document forwarded to you. We did a kind of holistic submission, not necessarily restricting ourselves to transactions which I had said earlier.
Earlier, one of the lawmakers, Muhammed Bello Shehu, had noted that documents provided by the Commission contained blank entries for the volume and grade of crude seized.
Bello queried why the EFCC had not proactively investigated the Naira-for-Crude transactions, stressing that the policy was meant to ease pressure on local refineries and the naira.
According to him, “In the tabular document you submitted, including the evidence of payment attached, we need clarity on how you arrived at the amounts remitted to the EFCC. In the same table, the column for the volume and grade of crude seized shows ‘nil, nil’. Yet there should be a section that states the value of whatever was seized.
“You need to review this thoroughly so that the document can speak for itself, even in your absence. As it is, the presentation is incomplete.
“I find it surprising that up till now, the national watchdog has never investigated nor even attempted to investigate the issues surrounding the Naira-for-Crude policy. This is a major policy introduced by the Federal Government to ease operations for local refineries and reduce pressure on the naira and dollar. Nigerians deserve to know what is happening behind it.”
