Senate President Ahmad Lawan says oil thieves are Nigeria’s worst enemy as President Muhammadu Buhari presents the 2023 appropriation bill to the joint session of the national assembly.

The Senate tweeted about the development via its official Twitter account.

During the presentation, Mr Lawan explained that the national assembly consistently passed the appropriation bill before the end of the year for Mr Buhari to sign it into law before the new year.

“The Ninth National Assembly has been consistent in passing the appropriations bill before the end of the year so that it can be signed into law before the beginning of a new year,” said the Senate president. “Mr President, I consider the oil thieves the worst enemy of our country…We can reduce the deficit by stopping the theft.”

Mr Buhari is the minister of petroleum resources and has failed to rein in the looting of the country’s crude oil, with Nigeria losing 95 per cent of its oil under his regime, according to Tony Elumelu.

Mr Elumelu, in March, lamented that Bonny Terminal ought to be receiving 200,000 barrels of crude oil instead of the 3,000 barrels on a daily basis.

The Heirs Holding chairman said, “Businesses are suffering. How can we be losing over 95% of oil production to thieves? “Look at the Bonny Terminal that should be receiving over 200k barrels of crude oil daily, instead it receives less than 3,000 barrels, leading the operator @Shell to declare force majeure.”