Amaechi Dares Okonjo-Iweala To Tell Nigerians How Much Oil Nigeria Produces

The Rivers State Government has challenged the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, to explain to Nigerians how much the country earns from crude oil sales.

Rivers also dared asked Iweala to open up on the quantity of crude oil being produced, its market value and the differences in oil prices. State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Ibim Semenitari, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt said that rather than speaking on how much Rivers State had earned as revenue, the Minister should tell Nigerians how many percent of the 2013 budget the nation’s oil revenue had funded. The state government expressed disaffection over the minister’s criticisms against Governor Rotimi Amaechi. According to Semenitari, “The Rivers State Government as a policy publishes what it earns from all revenue sources and what it expends as well. Since we have nothing to hide, the honourable minister is welcome to reaffirm these figures for the public as they are already in the public domain. “What is not in the public domain and what the Rivers State Government has respectfully requested the honourable minister to publish are the following – “How much oil does Nigeria produce? Where is the differential between the oil pump prices? What price is our oil being sold? How much have we earned from our crude oil sales in the last year? “What percentage of budget 2013 does our crude oil sales revenue fund? Can the Honourable Minister assist in shedding more light on the subsidy savings since the reduction in petroleum subsidy? “The red herring of how much Rivers State has received from the federation account can be the matter for another day as right now those figures are not in contest, and the spat against Governor Amaechi is unnecessary”.