The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Appropriation/Finance in Abuja on Tuesday in response to a summons, revealed the revenue shortfall.
Okonjo-Iweala said, “We are losing revenue; 400,000 barrels of crude oil are lost on a daily basis due to illegal bunkering, vandalism and production shut-in.
“I have to clarify that it is not as if the entire 400,000 barrels is stolen, no. What happens is that whenever the pipelines are attacked and oil is taken, there is a total shut down. All the quantity of oil produced for that day will be lost because it means government cannot sell it and it means a drop in revenue.”
The minister explained that this was the reason President Goodluck Jonathan sought to amend the 2013 Appropriation Act as against sending a supplementary budget to the National Assembly.
SOURCE:THE PUNCH
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