The Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating crude oil theft in the Niger Delta has uncovered about ₦300 billion in unaccounted crude oil proceeds.
The revelation, contained in the committee’s interim report to the Senate, detailed massive discrepancies, weak oversight mechanisms and systemic lapses that have enabled large-scale diversion of Nigeria’s crude oil revenue.
According to the report, a forensic review of domestic crude proceeds and tax oil proceeds records revealed crude oil sale differentials, mismatches and unaccounted funds amounting to about $22 billion.
It further found a shortfall of $81 billion between receipts declared by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and those recorded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for 2016 and 2017.
The committee also said its review of crude oil sales from 2015 to date, supported by investigations from international consultants, projected that over $200 billion in crude oil sales proceeds remained unaccounted for globally.
The interim report, which followed months of document reviews, written submissions and public hearings, traced the problem to faulty measurement systems, weak regulatory oversight, and poor coordination among government agencies.
It identified the use of unverified measuring instruments, lack of metrological control, ineffective interagency collaboration, and uncoordinated enforcement mechanisms as major enablers of crude oil theft.
The report faulted the suspension of the Weights and Measures Department’s activities in the upstream sector under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, saying the decision undermined accountability and accurate measurement in crude oil operations.
It also noted that the absence of a special court to prosecute oil thieves and the non-implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund (HCDTF) under the PIA had contributed to persistent sabotage and theft in oil-producing areas.
The committee projected that the unaccounted domestic crude sales proceeds amount to about ₦300 billion, calling for urgent local and international tracking, tracing and recovery of stolen crude oil funds for the benefit of the country.
(The Sun)
