The Ministry of Petroleum Recources has said that the statement issued on Monday on theft and pipeline vandalism was not meant to denigrate the reputation of the head of any agency or government official or to dispute the figures released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
In the said statement, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, was said to have attributed loss of revenue from crude production to theft, pipeline vandalism and decayed infrastructure.
But, in another release issued by the Senior Media Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum Recourses, Horatius Egua, the said statement was released in error.
According to Egua, it was a draft statement which should not have been released to the media for publication as it did not get the clearance of the Minister of State Chief Timipre Sylva.
“I apologize for any discomfort or inconveniences the statement may have caused,” he said.
