Senate Panel Uncovers Unaccounted $300bn Crude Revenue
The Nigerian Senate has been rocked by revelations of staggering financial losses from crude oil theft and sabotage in the Niger Delta, with an ad hoc committee reporting over $300 billion in unaccounted revenue spanning several years.
Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North), who chairs the committee, presented the interim findings during Wednesday’s plenary session. He described the scale of the losses as “massive,” citing forensic audits that uncovered missing funds in three distinct periods, $22 billion, $81 billion, and $200 billion respectively.
The Committee, however, recommended that the government should “adopt international crude measurement standards at all production and export terminals to ensure transparency, empower the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to deploy modern metering technology or transfer the responsibility to the Weights and Measures Department under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, deploy drones and surveillance systems to combat pipeline vandalism and theft and establish a Maritime Trust Fund to improve training, safety, and security across Nigeria’s waterways.”
Others include, “create a special court dedicated to the swift prosecution of oil thieves and their collaborators, implement the Host Communities Development Trust Fund under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to reduce local sabotage, transfer abandoned oil wells to NUPRC for allocation to modular refineries, boosting domestic refining and discouraging theft.”
The committee also requested authority to trace and recover stolen crude proceeds, a move that drew mixed reactions from senators.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) acknowledged the committee’s role in documenting losses but noted that actual recovery falls outside its mandate. Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West) called for transparency, urging the consultant to name the companies and individuals implicated, emphasizing that the $300 billion figure “equals nearly a decade of Nigeria’s budget.”
Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North) stressed the need for the final report to pinpoint specific wells, rigs, and theft locations. Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) supported accepting the interim report while calling for deeper scrutiny. Senator Lola Ashiru (Kwara South) described the losses as “catastrophic” and pressed for immediate action.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the committee’s work and assured that its recommendations would be thoroughly reviewed once the final report is submitted.
The revelations have reignited national debate over accountability in Nigeria’s oil sector, with lawmakers now under pressure to translate findings into decisive reforms.
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