The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered more than ₦115 billion and $84 million in outstanding statutory payments to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), as the Senate intensifies its scrutiny of revenue leakages in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The recovery was disclosed on Wednesday during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, on the 2021–2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report.
Representing the EFCC, Mr Francis Oka-Phillips Usani told lawmakers that the commission investigated 43 oil companies and identified 24 operators in the Niger Delta with outstanding obligations arising from the three per cent statutory levy payable to the NDDC.
He said the 24 companies had outstanding obligations of ₦76.884 billion and $81.077 million, while the remaining 19 companies investigated were cleared.
“At the commencement of investigation, EFCC invited 43 oil companies, out of which 24 operating within the Niger Delta were found to have outstanding liabilities,” Usani told the committee.
*24 Niger Delta operators traced over unpaid obligations
According to the EFCC representative, pressure from the anti-graft agency led some affected companies to settle their obligations directly with the NDDC.
He disclosed that such direct payments amounted to ₦6.709 billion and $16.994 million.
The commission also recovered additional funds on behalf of the development commission, with ₦73.373 billion and $67.070 million already released to the NDDC.
Usani said ₦3.510 billion and $14.005 million remained in the EFCC’s recovery account.
“Out of the sums so far recovered by the commission on behalf of NDDC, total sums of N73.373 billion and $67.070 million have been released to NDDC,” he said.
The disclosure brought the issue of unpaid statutory remittances into sharper focus as lawmakers continued their examination of revenue obligations identified in the NEITI audit.
Usani explained that the EFCC’s investigation concentrated primarily on the unpaid three per cent levy due to the NDDC, as highlighted by the NEITI report.
He, however, said the investigation did not exclude the possibility of other outstanding statutory payments and taxes owed to the Federal Government.
“We did not lose sight of the fact that there could be other unpaid statutory obligations and taxes due to the Federal Government,” Usani said.
*Five petroleum executives face personal questioning
The recovery disclosure coincided with a tougher stance by the Senate committee, which moved to compel the chief executives of major oil companies to answer questions arising from the NEITI audit personally.
The committee rejected an attempt by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited to respond to queries through a representative, insisting that the company’s managing director appear before the panel.
The committee subsequently directed the Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited to appear personally next week.
The committee’s action followed its determination to establish the extent to which oil companies had complied with statutory financial obligations and whether government revenues had been lost through non-remittance.
The investigation is expected to continue with further scrutiny of the 2021–2023 NEITI audit report and additional entities as lawmakers seek to determine the scale of outstanding revenues in the extractive sector.
Senator Dankwambo said the investigative hearing would continue on Thursday.
