Obiora Ifoh, Abuja

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has declared that Corruption in Nigeria is a big Elephant in the Room that must be exited for the house to be properly deployed.

Obi said that is exactly what he plans to do if elected Nigeria President, as he intends to take corruption headlong.

Speaking at the 52nd Annual Accountants ICAN Conference in Abuja on Wednesday on the theme ‘Accounting as a requisite for Sustainable Governance’, Obi said “It is no secret that corruption has been endemic and one of the biggest obstacles to our economic progress in Nigeria. Corruption is the big elephant in the room”

“In the past few days, we have seen videos of illegal pipelines connected to national oil pipeline networks, running for kilometers… where billions of dollars that should have been used for development and welfare, have been illegally siphoned away, for up to nine years, according to reports.

“What I first expected was that the hierarchy of our top oil management bureaucracy will immediately resign, because, without mincing words, this is irrefutable evidence of their incompetence, if not collaboration.  My administration, when we come in, will tackle this corruption head-on. We will have zero tolerance for corruption.

He said that if elected Nigeria’s President, he intends to take corruption headlong and curb the current oil theft plaguing the country’s economy.

“It is no secret that corruption has been endemic and one of the biggest obstacles to our economic progress in Nigeria. Corruption is the big elephant in the room.

“In the past few days, we have seen videos of illegal pipelines connected to national oil pipeline networks, running for kilometers… where billions of dollars that should have been used for development and welfare, have been illegally siphoned away, for up to nine years, according to reports.

The LP candidate who accused Accountants in the country of aiding corruption said “If you look at the written financial regulations in any establishment, you will see watertight regulations of auditing, vetting, tendering, vouchering, joint signatories and other safeguards, designed to check embezzlement and corruption, yet these sharp practices and misappropriated sums continue to rise, and I understand that there is now a Nigerian record of almost N109 billion allegedly embezzled by an accountant.”

He asked ICAN to “increase the level of peer surveillance and internal discipline among your ranks, if we cannot properly account for our finances, the country is finished, let us as accountants, do more to check and stop corruption.”

The former Anambra State governor also stressed that Accounting is a requisite in ensuring sustainable governance and a stabilising factor in development as Proper accounting serves as checks on the activities of the three arms of government as well as the three tiers of government.

He further spoke on the level of fiscal discipline he intends to bring into the system to block wastages and proper utilization of available resources.

This is as he assured that his administration will “ensure sustainability and resilience, we will stop borrowing for consumption. All loans must be invested in regenerative projects. We shall pursue a drastic reduction in the cost of governance and corruption; improve ease of doing business to attract Foreign Direct Investment to jumpstart industrialization and when borrowing is unavoidable, it will be strictly for production.”

Meanwhile, Angola and Libya have for the second consecutive month maintained their lead over Nigeria as Africa’s highest crude oil producers, according to a report by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC said this in its Oil Market Report for October, which was obtained on Wednesday in Lagos.

According to the report, Nigeria’s crude oil production in September averaged 1.087 million barrels per day.

The report said the figure showed an increase of about 30,000mb/d when compared to the 1.057mb/d produced averagely in August.

However, like the preceding month, the report said Angola remained Africa’s highest crude oil producer for the month under review with an average production of 1.184mb/d.

It said Libya’s crude oil production also averaged 1.152mb/d in September.

“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 29.77 mb/d in September, higher by 146,000 barrels per day month-on-month.

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Libya, and the UAE, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and IR Iran declined,” the report said.

The report said the latest data suggested that inflation accelerated to 20.5 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in August from 19.6 percent y-oy in July.

It said the recent rate had been fuelled by domestic and international constraints on supply chains, a weakening naira as well as higher energy and transportation prices.

“Moreover, floods in the northern part of the country, which have weighed significantly on the grain harvest, could lead to even higher prices.

“However, considering the broad money-supply growth of 21 percent y-o-y in August, there is a significant monetary component behind the inflationary spiral.

“In response, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently hiked the policy rate for the third time this year by 150 basis points, to 15.5 percent, adding up to a cumulative 400 bps.

“The CBN also increased the minimum Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 500 bps, to 32.5 percent, from 27.5 percent previously, but kept the liquidity ratio unchanged at 30 percent.

“For the time being, the Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Manger’s Index increased to 53.7 in September 2022 from 52.3 in the previous month,” the report said.

It said this was a reflection of a stable improvement in overall business conditions as sentiment remained positive, supported by the outlook for the fossil fuel market.