National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has said Nigeria is now producing 1.8 million barrels of crude oil per day – up from about 900,000 barrels.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ribadu disclosed this on Tuesday when he appeared before the senate, alongside the service chiefs and other security heads to discuss the country’s security challenges.
In December, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, said the country was producing about 1 million barrels of crude oil per day which had steadily risen to 1.4 million.
1.7 million bpd was set as the benchmark for Nigeria to materialise its 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion.
The NSA said the increase in the production of crude oil was as a result of “kinetic and non-kinetic operations.”
A source quoted Ribadu to have said, “This nearly doubling of production results from stringent measures against oil theft and criminality, combining non-military intervention and active kinetic measures.”
He was said to have briefed the upper legislative chamber about the various security operations across the country.
The NSA said due to successful operations carried out by the various security agencies, farmers in communities in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger states have been able to return to farmlands.
Ribadu said the activities of members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been reduced to a minimum.
On his part, Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, said the synergy between the security agencies has yielded “great” results across the country.
