KEY POINTS
- Oil firms remitted $6.755bn and N1.529tn to NDDC between 2021 and 2025.
- Companies still owe the NDDC $290m and N163bn in statutory contributions.
- RMAFC says Nigeria spent N1.16tn on fuel subsidy in 2021.
Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria remitted a combined $6.755 billion and N1.529 trillion in statutory contributions to the Niger Delta Development Commission between 2021 and 2025, the commission has told the Senate.
The disclosure was made during an ongoing investigative hearing by the Senate Public Accounts Committee into audit reports of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative covering the 2021 to 2023 period.
Although the Senate inquiry is focused on the NEITI audit reports, the NDDC presented an updated record of statutory contributions received from oil and gas companies up to 2025.
The contributions are expected to support development in the Niger Delta, the oil-producing region that hosts much of Nigeria’s petroleum activities and has for years faced environmental, infrastructure and socioeconomic challenges.
According to the NDDC, the $6.755 billion and N1.529 trillion paid by oil and gas companies represent statutory contributions required from operators in the sector.
Under the applicable framework, oil and gas companies are required to contribute three per cent of their annual budgets to the NDDC.
The funds are intended to finance development projects and environmental interventions across the Niger Delta, including infrastructure and other initiatives aimed at improving living conditions in oil-producing communities.
However, the NDDC told lawmakers that despite the substantial payments recorded during the period, companies still had significant outstanding obligations.
Oil firms still owe $290m, N163bn
The commission disclosed that oil and gas companies owed approximately $290 million and N163 billion in outstanding statutory contributions for the period under review.
The revelation has added another dimension to the Senate’s ongoing examination of Nigeria’s extractive industry revenues and the financial obligations of companies operating within the sector.
The outstanding amounts could potentially provide additional funding for development interventions in the Niger Delta if recovered.
The disclosure also raises questions about the mechanisms used to monitor statutory payments and enforce compliance among companies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The Senate Public Accounts Committee is conducting the investigation following audit queries raised by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation regarding the operations of Nigeria’s extractive industries between 2021 and 2023.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, is examining issues contained in NEITI’s audit reports and seeking clarification from government agencies and stakeholders within the oil and gas sector.
The hearing is expected to shed more light on revenue collection, statutory contributions, deductions from petroleum earnings and other financial issues affecting Nigeria’s extractive industry.
The NDDC Managing Director, Samuel Ogbuku, was represented at the hearing by the commission’s Executive Director of Corporate Services, Ifedayo Abegunde.
Abegunde led the NDDC delegation that presented the updated contribution figures to the committee.
The commission’s submission provides lawmakers with a more recent picture of statutory payments by oil and gas companies, extending the information beyond the 2021–2023 period covered by the NEITI audit reports.
