Nigeria has "a record that can hardly be rivalled in the history of a warped budget management of any nation anywhere in the world," says its own House of Representatives. The scale of corruption is immense, particularly regarding fuel subsidies. Nigeria is the only major producer that sells all of its oil to private commodity traders and none directly to refineries, leaving the system wide open to abuse. Fuel subsidy scams are currently the biggest form of corruption and organised crime in Nigeria. This assertion may be shocking to some, but seasoned Nigeria observers will be all too aware of the problem. Although the West African state is a major global oil supplier, it is forced to import most of its fuel requirements and pays handsomely for the privilege, often several times over. Yet it is only through the publication of a succession of reports this year that the gargantuan scale of the crime has become apparent.
展开▼
