Assistant To Sylva Apologises To Nigerians For False Media Report

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timpre Sylva's media assistant, Horatius Egua, has apologised to Nigerians and business leaders for a false media report.

"Theft, Pipeline Vandalism Responsible For Volumes Of Crude Oil Losses," read the headline of a statement that Egua issued on Monday and gave Sylva credit for.

He clarified that the statement was a draught and that it hadn't been approved by the Minister, thus it shouldn't have been made available to the media for publishing.

In the letter of apology he issued on Tuesday, Egua stated that the statement was not intended to disparage the standing of any agency head or other high-ranking government official or to contest the data made public by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). It was accidentally released.

“I apologise for any discomfort or inconveniences the statement may have caused by its release,” Egua stated.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the NUPRC stated in a statement on February 19 that "about 40% of the volumes assigned to crude losses in the Nigerian petroleum industry are actually related to measurement mistakes, and not theft as typically reported.