The Senate Committee investigating crude oil theft in the Niger Delta says massive financial discrepancies amounting to about $303 billion have been uncovered in Nigeria’s crude oil transactions, both locally and internationally.
Presenting an interim report during Wednesday’s plenary, the committee chairman, Senator Ned Nwoko, said forensic reviews conducted by consultants engaged by the Senate revealed that over $22 billion, $81 billion, and $200 billion were unaccounted for in separate crude oil sales records over several years.
According to the report, a document submitted by one of the consultants, E.J Agbonayinma, indicated an $81 billion shortfall between crude proceeds declared by the NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) between 2016 and 2017, compared to what was actually received by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The analysis also showed that between 2015 and 2024, more than $200 billion worth of crude oil proceeds were missing from transactions traced to both local and international oil markets.
Senator Nwoko told the Senate that the findings exposed "deep-rooted discrepancies" in Nigeria’s oil export system and disclosed extensive losses resulting from the diversion of crude oil revenues.
The committee’s report further alleged large-scale fraud under the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) programme of the NNPC Limited, where billions of dollars’ worth of crude oil intended for domestic refining and tax remittances were either diverted or stolen.
In 2017 alone, the report said, 27 per cent of domestic crude valued at over $1 billion was stolen, while 68 per cent of tax oil worth about $844 million was diverted.
By 2019, theft had worsened, with 44.7 per cent of domestic crude and 40 per cent of tax oil proceeds unaccounted for.
The investigation also uncovered more than 10 foreign joint venture accounts, in both Naira and US dollars, allegedly used to divert proceeds of crude oil sales, some held outside Nigeria.
Sixteen companies operating in the Niger Delta were also implicated in what the committee described as "a web of technical manipulation, collusion, and revenue leakage."
Lawmakers, during deliberations, urged the consultants to identify individuals and entities involved in the alleged theft to aid recovery of the missing funds.
The Senate directed Nwoko’s committee to continue its probe and submit a comprehensive final report that could serve as a basis for referrals to relevant anti-graft agencies for prosecution.
Among the committee’s recommendations is the creation of a special court dedicated to prosecuting crude oil thieves and their collaborators.
It also called for a federal framework to recover seized or forfeited crude oil through transparent sales channels, in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy, Joint Task Force (JTF), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Following debate on the report, the Senate resolved to return it to the committee for further investigation, with a mandate to identify all actors involved and provide concrete evidence for recovery and prosecution.
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