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Corruption costs Nigeria 40 percent of oil wealth, official says
100,000 barrels said to be stolen each day
By Reuters | December 17, 2004
ABUJA, Nigeria -- Corruption and mismanagement swallow about 40 percent of Nigeria's $20 billion annual oil income, anti-graft chief Nuhu Ribadu said yesterday.
Industry sources say at least 100,000 barrels, or 4 percent, of national oil exports are stolen every day in Nigeria, the world's eighth largest exporter. Despite its oil riches, 70 percent of the West African country's population live below the poverty line because of corruption and economic mismanagement.
Ribadu said the amount of oil wealth illegally siphoned off is down from about 70 percent two years ago, due to new controls on central government finances. But the Nigerian regions, which control about half of the nation's revenue, have failed to keep up with the pace of central reform, he told Reuters in an interview.
"At the federal level there has been a big improvement. The very big guys who steal now are the state governors," he said.
"Things have improved. About 70 percent used to go to waste and corruption, but the number now is maybe 40 percent," said Ribadu, a key member of a small but powerful group of technocrats who have managed the economy since last year.
