Nigerian Navy confiscated crude oil and diesel worth N420 billion in 2016, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, said yesterday.

Speaking during the budget defence at the House of Representatives Committee on Navy, Ibas said the amount of crude oil and diesel seized stood at 810,725 and 1,078 metric tonnes respectively.

The CNS told members of the committee chaired by Rep Abdulsamad Dasuki (APC, Sokoto) that the Navy destroyed 181 illegal refineries, 263 wooden boats, 38 barges, 139 Geepee tanks and 148 pumping machines in 2016.

He said the Nigerian Navy also arrested 784 suspects, 22 crude vessels, 53 wooden boats, 145 outboard engines, 135 speed boats, 27 tankers and seized 468 arms, 1,659 ammunitions and 2,974 drums.

Others, he said, were 210 storage tanks, 47 vehicles, 15 motorcycles, 4,753 jerrycans, 27 power generating sets, 224 surface tanks, 24 hoses, 17 welding machines and 33 other vessels, saying the achievements were done despite the reduction of their overhead with only N2.5bn release out of about N3.4bn.

He said out of the N56.463 billion appropriated for personnel cost in 2016, N49.656bn was released, while the sum of N205.879 million was generated as Internally Generated Revenue and remitted to government via the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

As for 2017, he said the Nigerian Navy plans to spend N26.446 billion on capital projects with the priority areas listed as fleet renewal, operational infrastructure upgrade, operational logistics procurement, capacity development and personnel welfare.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Dasuki said the amount Nigeria lost in revenue due to Navy's inability to carry out is duties was estimated at about N3 trillion ($10bn) annually, saying the Navy's budgetary allocations must be realistic.

He said the Nigerian Navy "performed credibly well, despite its various challenges," which he said could be linked directly to insufficient fund, adding that the committee would ensure adequate allocation for the maintenance and fuelling of Nigerian Navy platforms. 

Daily Trust