From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
NIGERIA has lost a whopping sum of $15 billion through graft in the procurement of security equipment the military, Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo said.
“Our country’s external reserves stands at $27 billion few days ago, but the total amount lost just to corruption in the provision of security equipment in the military is close to $15 billion, which is more than half of current reserves of the country,” he said.
He made the disclosure yesterday during the presentation of a book written by members of the House of Lords, Nigeria, entitled: “Nigeria: The challenges of growth and development (In-depth analysis by experts), at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan yesterday.
While lamenting the high level of corruption in the country and the extent to which it has negatively affected the socio-economic development of the country, Osinbajo said: “We need to have a sustained fight against corruption. This country simply cannot sustain the level of public sector corruption that has bedevilled us for so many years. If you look at the sheer amount of money that has been lost to the various cases of corruption, you will find out that far too much has been lost,” he said.
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, he said, had zero tolerance for corruption, and those found to be corrupt would be dislodged of the property they stole and would at the same time pay for it in terms of sanctions according to the law.
“We believe that it is important to sound this warning that no public officer can steal the resources of this country and try to escape. I hope that this message is loud and clear and it will inform right behaviour in the future,” Osinbajo said.
Osinbajo who was special guest at the event also revealed that the Federal Government targets 7,000 megawatts of electricity within the next 18 months with a view to ensuring adequate power supply in the country.
“The ultimate objective, of course, is that within 18 months, we expect to be generating 7,000 megawatts of power. But the major problem remains that of vandalisation of pipelines. The capacity to ensure that pipelines are not vandalised, of course, lies with the military. The President (Buhari), just two weeks ago, ordered that there must be full mobilization for the protection of pipelines,” he said.
Osinbajo, who noted that power supply remains a major problem in the country, said the 2016 budget focuses on ensuring that the aspects of power value chain that are weak at the moment are at least restored. He identified gas and transmission as the most important power value chain that are weak at the moment.
“Nigeria, of course, has huge gas resources. Despite the fact that we have huge gas resources, we have a problem with conveying gas from the gas wells to power plants. The use of pipeline, of course, is the easiest way, but the pipelines are being vandalised,” he revealed.
Osinbajo noted that in the late 2015 and early 2016, power generation was possibly at its peak, adding that Nigeria, for the first time, was generating 5,000 megawatts of power, which was unprecedented. He recalled that on February 14, 2016, the Forcados Export Terminal was blown.
The gang-up after the blowing up of the terminal, he said, ensured that 40 per cent of gas that “goes for power was no longer used for the purpose, which led to the immediate loss of 1,500 megawatts of power.