Name highly-placed Nigerians involved in oil theft, Obi dares Buhari

The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has dared the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to expose the "highly-placed" Nigerians allegedly involved in oil theft in the country.

Oil theft claim: This comes after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, revealed that religious leaders and security agencies connive to steal the nation's number one cash cow.

Speaking during the 49th session of the weekly ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja, on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, Kyari stressed that oil theft is largely carried out by Nigerians and not foreigners.

He disclosed that some pipelines have been to be connected to individual’s homes while the stolen products are found mostly in churches and mosques.

Kyari's word: “When a fire outbreak happened in one of our pipelines, we discovered that some of the pipelines were actually connected to individual’s homes. And not only that, and with all sensitivity to our religious beliefs, you know, some of the pipelines and some of the products that we found, are actually in churches and in mosques,” Kyari had said.

Obi calls for action: Reacting to the development in a post on his Twitter page on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, Obi said he was struck by the report linking highly placed individuals to oil theft in the country.

The Labour Party candidate likened the development to Boko Haram financing which was also traced to some influential Nigerians.

He, however, urged the federal government to, in the national interest, expose the culprits and prosecute them accordingly.

Obi's tweet read: "I am struck and intrigued by the news report linking "highly placed" Nigerians to oil theft. Same has been the case with financing insurgency and Boko Haram. When will FGN summon the political will to publicly name such persons?

"In the National Interest, there should be no sacred cows. - PO"

Obi hopes to succeed Buhari as Nigeria's president when the presidential polls are held in February 2023.