The Nigerian Senate has uncovered massive financial discrepancies amounting to over $300 billion in unaccounted crude oil proceeds, described as one of the gravest cases of economic sabotage in the nation’s history.
Presenting the interim report on Friday, Senator Prince Ned Nwoko, Chairman of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Sabotage, revealed that forensic reviews conducted across various audit periods showed that $22 billion, $81 billion, and $200 billion remain unaccounted for in different phases of the oil sector’s operations.
According to Senator Nwoko, the committee’s investigation exposed deep-rooted corruption, inefficiency, and criminal collaboration within the oil and gas value chain — factors that have drained the nation’s revenue base for decades.
To tackle the menace, the committee made a series of bold recommendations to the Senate. These include:
- The strict enforcement of international crude oil measurement standards at all production and export points.
- Mandating the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to install tamper-proof metering technology or returning the function to the Department of Weights and Measures under the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.
- Deploying advanced surveillance systems, including drones, to support security agencies in monitoring pipelines and deterring oil theft.
- Establishing a Special Court for Crude Oil Theft to ensure speedy prosecution of offenders and their collaborators.
- Full implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to empower host communities and discourage sabotage.
- Ceding abandoned oil wells to the NUPRC for allocation to modular refineries, aimed at boosting local refining capacity and job creation.
Senator Nwoko further urged the Senate to expand the committee’s mandate to track, trace, and recover stolen crude oil proceeds within and outside Nigeria, stressing that the time had come for decisive reform.
“This is a national call to action,” Nwoko said. “Nigeria cannot continue losing trillions to corruption, inefficiency, and criminal networks. We must ensure accountability, recovery, and reform within the oil and gas sector.”
The Senate is expected to deliberate on the interim findings in its next plenary session, with stakeholders calling for urgent implementation of the committee’s recommendations to restore transparency in Nigeria’s most critical revenue source.