Gov. Obi Urges Prosecution Of Oil Thieves

The governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi has called for the prosecution of crude oil thieves in the country no matter  how highly placed or connected they may be.

In a chat with newsmen at the 4th Emmanuel Egbogah Legacy Lecture on Petroleum Economic Policy and Strategy at the Ebitimi Banigo Hall University of Port Harcourt, recently Obi said Nigeria cannot continue to lose nearly 50 per cent of its budget to crude oil theft in the Niger Delta.

His words: “We cannot continue to have a  situation where nearly 50 per cent of our national budget is stolen. We must address the issue aggressively.

“I thank President Goodluck Jonathan for what he has done so far in terms of dealing with the fuel subsidy and oil theft.”

He argued that those involved in this heinous acts were Nigerians and nobody was above the country adding that “No matter how connected they are, we want to disconnect that connection”.

According to him corruption has eaten deep into every sector of the nation’s economy and decried the celebration of corrupt people in the country.

Urging Nigerians to always tell the leaders the truth, he stressed that leaders must be held responsible for the situation of things in the country.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Joseph Ajienka said the series offers another opportunity for major players and policy-makers in the oil and gas industry to exchange ideas on how to better harness the huge potentials in the sector for the benefit of Nigerians.

Prof. Ajienka added that the university’s foray into petroleum policy matters would not have been possible but for the philanthropic gesture of Dr Emmanuel Egbogah.

He also disclosed that work on the Emerald Energy Institute building was nearing completion and may be commissioned early next year.

The lecture was put together by the University’s Emerald Energy Institute for Energy Economics, Policy and Strategic Studies, an initiative of  Dr Egbogah, in conjunction with the Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS) to mark the 70th birthday of Dr Egbogah.

Peter Behr of Signet Advisors Limited, Switzerland gave the keynote address while presentations were made by other eminent scholars across the globe including Prof Amos Nur of Stanford University, USA and Sastry Karra, President/CEO Hardy Oil Exploration, India.