The Federal Government has decried the ‘diversion and misuse’ of Nigeria’s Frontier Exploration Fund, under the watch of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, warning that individuals and agencies responsible for the mismanagement of the money will be held accountable.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this in Lagos on Monday at the 43rd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, where he accused unnamed persons of derailing the purpose for which the fund was created.
Lokpobiri said the Frontier Exploration Fund, established under the Petroleum Industry Act, was designed to finance new oil exploration activities in Nigeria’s frontier basins, particularly in areas like Chad, Sokoto, Anambra, Benue, and other underexplored regions.
He lamented, however, that the fund had not been properly utilised since the law came into effect, saying some were borrowing the money for other purposes.