Former President Obasanjo licking Ice-Cream, majority of Nigerians of his time were denied a taste
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has accused former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan of squandering about N70tn revenue generated from petroleum between 1999 and 2014. NEITI says the money is simply unaccounted for.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr. Waziri Adio made the shocking revelation when he told the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs during an oversight visit to his office that unless Nigeria developed a prudent way of spending, a tougher time awaits the country.
This comes at a time Nigeria is said to have lost over $200bn it could have earned from the exportation and sales of mineral deposits found in several states of the federation in the last eight years.
Adio regretted that it was “unfortunate and unthinkable” that despite the huge earnings recorded from crude oil sales over the years, the country had failed to account for at least $100bn in the Excess Crude Account.
He added, “Let me inform the committee that we discovered that between 1999 and 2014, the country spent over N70tn it received from oil and gas alone. That is a whole lot of money. And what is sad is that it was spent without the country being able to show for it. I
think it is quite unfortunate.
“For the sake of emphasis, however, I think if previous administrations had developed a culture for prudent management of resources, Nigeria ought to have over $100bn saved in the Excess Crude Account. So, going forward, it is necessary for government to think
about saving a lot more and do all it can as well as to cut down on wasteful spending if the nation must make progress.”
Adio advised President Muhammadu Buhari to develop a saving mechanism that would lead to drastic cut on government spending to the barest minimum, if he hoped to succeed.
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