Forensic institute urges FG to flush out cabals in oil sector

The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) has called on the federal government to immediately dismantle entrenched cabals within the oil and gas sector to enable the industry to achieve its full potential. CIFCFIN’s Chairman, Governing Council, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, made the call in a statement to mark Nigeria’s 65th […]

The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) has called on the federal government to immediately dismantle entrenched cabals within the oil and gas sector to enable the industry to achieve its full potential.

CIFCFIN’s Chairman, Governing Council, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, made the call in a statement to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day anniversary, urging a four-pronged approach to eliminate systemic obstruction and economic sabotage in the sector.

He said the government should invoke all relevant legal instruments, including the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), to classify such obstructive actions as economic sabotage. He also advised the government to assert its executive authority against individuals or groups holding the economy to ransom and eroding public trust in governance.

According to him, strategic national assets such as the Dangote Refinery should be designated as critical infrastructure deserving maximum protection.

He further urged the government to encourage more private sector investment in the oil and gas industry to foster competition and efficiency, as seen in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.

Gashinbaki said forensic analysis conducted by the institute exposed how powerful cabals operating through proxy institutions and unions have continued to frustrate progress, perpetuate scarcity, and sustain import dependency.

The CIFCFIN chairman disclosed that investigations confirmed Nigeria’s vast resources of over 37 billion barrels of oil and 208 trillion cubic feet of gas—enough to power and industrialize the economy for generations. Yet, he lamented that the nation’s domestic refining history remains marred by chronic inefficiency and failure.

“The Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries now stand as failed monuments, forcing the country to export crude oil while importing refined products—an economic paradox that has drained national wealth,” Gashinbaki said.

He declared CIFCFIN’s support for the Dangote Refinery amid its recent standoff with PENGASSAN and commended the federal government for intervening.

Describing the 650,000-barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a transformative breakthrough, Gashinbaki said it demonstrates what private enterprise can achieve where public institutions have failed.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians and the Federal Government to defend the promise of private sector-led energy independence and “finally declare freedom from the cabals that have long undermined national progress.”