The Nigerian Senate has revealed a staggering $303 billion in crude oil revenue remains unaccounted for due to theft, diversion, and systemic irregularities within the sector, according to an interim report by its Ad Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Related Sabotage in the Niger Delta. Senate Committee Chairman Senator Ned Nwoko, presenting the report to the upper chamber on Wednesday, exposed deep-rooted discrepancies in Nigeria’s crude oil export system that have resulted in immense revenue losses over the years.
The report, backed by forensic reviews from independent consultants, identified significant shortfalls in crude oil proceeds, over $22 billion, $81 billion, and $200 billion went missing across different time frames traced between 2015 and 2024. “The findings so far expose systemic irregularities and inefficiencies that have robbed the country of enormous wealth,” Nwoko stated.
The committee discovered a $81 billion shortfall between the crude oil proceeds declared by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) from 2016 to 2017 versus what was actually received by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The investigation also revealed large-scale fraud under the NNPC Limited’s Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) program. Billions of dollars worth of crude oil intended for domestic refining and tax remittances were either stolen or diverted.
In 2017 alone, 27% of domestic crude oil valued at over $1 billion was reportedly stolen, with 68% of tax oil valued at $844 million similarly diverted. By 2019, the situation worsened as 44.7% of domestic crude oil and 40% of tax oil proceeds were unaccounted for.
Further compounding the losses were findings of over 10 foreign joint venture accounts in Naira and U.S. dollars, some held overseas, through which sales proceeds were allegedly diverted. The committee implicated 16 companies operating in the Niger Delta in a web of collusion, technical manipulation, and revenue leakage. Weak surveillance, human interference, and lack of coordinated effort among regulatory and security agencies were identified as major contributing factors to the ongoing crude oil theft and revenue loss.
The Senate has urged the federal government to adopt internationally recognized crude oil measurement standards at all production and export terminals. The committee recommended empowering the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to deploy modern measurement technologies or alternatively transfer the responsibility to the Weights and Measures Department under the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.
Nwoko emphasized the need for the committee to have the mandate to track, trace, and recover stolen crude oil proceeds both within Nigeria and internationally. “The ad hoc committee should be given the mandate to track, trace and recover all proceeds of stolen crude oil both locally and internationally,” he urged.
Several senators, including Ogun West’s Solomon Adeola, called for the forensic consultants to provide specific names of individuals and companies involved in the theft to enable prosecution.
Therefore, Lola Ashiru of Kwara South highlighted the enormity of losses, describing them as equivalent to almost ten years of Nigeria’s national budget, and urged continued investigation. Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the committee’s work, promising that the Senate will carefully consider all recommendations once the final report is submitted.
Among the key recommendations is the establishment of a special court to expedite the prosecution of crude oil thieves and their collaborators. The committee also proposed a federal framework to recover seized and forfeited crude oil through transparent sales channels, collaborating with agencies like the Nigerian Navy, Joint Task Force, NUPRC, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Following vigorous debate, the Senate resolved to send the report back to the committee for further investigation and more detailed evidence gathering to support recovery and prosecution efforts, reinforcing a commitment to tackling the endemic losses in Nigeria’s crucial oil sector.
