By EMEKA AMAEFULA
SENATE BLOWS WHISTLE ON $300 BILLION MISSING OIL FUNDS
Ned Nwoko Panel Uncovers Massive Crude Revenue Gaps, Environmental Disaster in Niger Delta
It was an explosive moment in Nigeria’s National Assembly on Wednesday as the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft, chaired by Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North), unveiled an interim report that sent shockwaves through the chamber.
The findings suggest that over $300 billion in crude oil proceeds have either been misappropriated, unremitted, or outrightly stolen over the years through systemic collusion, poor oversight, and failed regulation.
According to the committee, discrepancies between declared revenues and actual remittances from Nigeria’s crude sales have reached alarming proportions. “Our forensic review revealed massive mismatches in official figures, unexplained cash movements, and deliberate underreporting of sales,” Senator Nwoko declared, his voice echoing through the Senate chamber.
Among the revelations were $22 billion in mismatched domestic crude revenue, $81 billion variance between NNPCL and CBN figures for 2016–2017, and a further $200 billion in unaccounted global crude proceeds spanning 2015–2024. In all, the committee estimates that Nigeria may have lost over $300 billion, funds capable of transforming the nation’s economy, infrastructure, and energy independence.
The committee traced the leakages to multiple failures within the petroleum management system — outdated metering equipment at crude terminals, the suspension of the Weights and Measures Department under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA 2021), and weak oversight among regulatory bodies including the NNPCL, NUPRC, and the CBN.
“The suspension of Weights and Measures created a vacuum that opened the floodgates for fraud,” the report noted. It added that foreign shipping interests and domestic cartels have been “manipulating export volumes and falsifying crude data,” robbing the country of billions in lost royalties and taxes.
Beyond the figures, the Nwoko Committee drew attention to the ecological catastrophe unfolding across the Niger Delta. Hundreds of abandoned and leaking oil wells have turned farmlands and waterways into death zones for local residents. The committee urged the Federal Government to handover idle oil wells to modular refinery operators, creating jobs, reducing illegal bunkering, and promoting local refining. It also condemned the non-implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund (HCDTF), blaming it for rising community unrest and sabotage. “If the host communities continue to see only pollution and neglect, no amount of policing will stop crude oil theft,” the report warned.
In its wide-ranging recommendations, the committee called for a global crude recovery and tracing operation to reclaim stolen oil proceeds; the reinstatement of the Weights and Measures Department to ensure accountability; the deployment of satellite and drone surveillance across oil facilities; the establishment of a Special Court for Oil Theft to fast-track prosecutions; and the creation of a Maritime Trust Fund to sustain critical infrastructure. These, the committee said, are “urgent measures” to rescue Nigeria’s oil wealth from corporate and bureaucratic predators.
Despite the shocking scale of losses, the report cited a modest improvement in crude output, which rose by 9.5 percent in 2023 — from 490.95 million barrels in 2022 to 537.57 million barrels. This rebound, it said, resulted from better security coordination and improved production discipline. Lawmakers, however, insisted that real progress depends on transparency and accountability. “If $300 billion in crude has vanished, someone must answer for it,” one senator remarked, drawing murmurs across the floor.
The Senate is expected to summon officials of the NNPCL, CBN, and NUPRC for explanations as deliberations continue next week. Pressure is also mounting from civil society groups and transparency watchdogs demanding that full details — including names, companies, and transaction records — be made public. Until then, the nation holds its breath, waiting to see whether this probe will lead to genuine accountability or become another chapter in Nigeria’s long history of oil corruption and silence.
— “Our forensic review shows alarming mismatches, unaccounted funds, and systemic manipulation.”
— Senator Ned Nwoko, Chairman, Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Oil Theft.
———–Emeka Amaefula —+234(0)8111813069—
