Reps Charge AGF, Interpol With Interfering With Investigation Into Stolen Crude Oil

The Committee is looking into a whistleblower’s claim that 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light crude, worth 2.4 billion dollars, were sold illegally to China in 2015.

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and Interpol have been accused of interfering with the committee’s inquiry by an Ad hoc Committee of the House of Representatives.

The Committee, which is looking into the country’s stolen crude from 2014 to the present, questioned why Interpol would welcome a whistleblower at the Ministry of Justice’s request so soon after the House started its probe.

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The Committee is looking into a whistleblower’s claim that 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light crude, worth 2.4 billion dollars, were sold illegally to China in 2015.

Garba Umar, the Director of Interpol Nigeria’s National Central Bureau, asserted that the Bureau just responded to the AGF’s request.

“There is an organisation called Advocacy for Good Governance and Free Nigeria,” said Mark Gbillah, the chairman of the House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft. That is the so-called civil society organisation that claimed in a letter to the attorney general that a global gang of extortionists was attempting to extort senior government officials. Why did the Attorney General respond to accusations made by a body without a face? That indicates that the Attorney General did not independently verify the legitimacy of any organisation.

The Committee charged the AGF with interfering with the House’s probe because it was unhappy with Interpol’s reply.

The Committee was concerned for the whistleblower’s safety and argued that the Ministry of Justice should contact Interpol through the police rather than directly, as Interpol is only required by law to react to requests made by local law enforcement organisations.