Ghana Could Be Involved In Nigerian Oil Stealing

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President Buhari in Ghana, hosted by President Mahama

President Muhammadu Buhari made a hint in the course of his Monday visit to Ghana that Ghanaian firms could have been involved in the schemes of Nigerian oil stealing.

Buhari paid a one-day visit to Ghana on September 7. A lot of things have been reported on the matter, including colourful photos of the trip, the welcoming ceremony, claims about Nigerian politics. The most widely publicised statement was made about the president’s plan to appoint cabinet in September.

Two days later, some other interesting facts have emerged about the journey. According to Daily Trust, addressing the Nigerian military community in Ghana, Buhari disclosed he had received reports that some Ghanaian oil companies were bringing Nigerian crude oil into their country system.

He vowed to identify and punish the culprits.

“We are going to pursue this information and find out if it is legally done. We will try to get to the bottom of it and prosecute the companies or those persons, who are involved.”

International Business Times provides that it could be Buhari’s agenda atop the list: to persuade his counterpart, President John Dramani Mahama, to track down and recover stolen Nigerian oil money suspected of being lodged in Ghanaian banks and real estate businesses.

Ghanaian media The New Statesman says that based on intelligence sources, there have been “intense movements of cash from Nigeria to Ghana” within the period weeks before and weeks after the historical elections, as a result of which Buhari emerged the news president of Nigeria. The amount believed to have been pumped totals over $1 billion.

It should be recalled that President Buhari on August 3 disclosed the steps being taken by his government to recover the looted funds. He said:

“We are getting cooperation from the international community, including information on ships that take crude oil from Nigeria and change direction, or pour their contents into other ships mid-stream.

“Some monies were paid to individual accounts. We are identifying the financial institutions and countries that are involved.”