Participants at an ongoing probe by the Senate committee on public accounts investigative hearing into the audit reports of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) covering the 2021–2023 period.
Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria remitted a total of $6.755 billion and ₦1.529 trillion to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2021 and 2025 as statutory contributions.
The disclosure was made during an ongoing probe by the Senate committee on public accounts investigative hearing into the audit reports of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) covering the 2021–2023 period.
Although the hearing is focused on the NEITI audit reports, the NDDC presented an updated report detailing contributions by oil and gas companies up to 2025.
The remittances represent the statutory three per cent contribution payable by oil and gas companies to the commission to fund development projects and environmental interventions in the Niger Delta, the region that hosts the nation’s oil and gas operations.
The Managing Director of the NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, was represented at the hearing by the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Ifedayo Abegunde, who led the commission’s delegation.
Presenting the report, the NDDC team informed the committee that, despite the substantial remittances, oil and gas companies still owed the commission $290 million and ₦163 billion in outstanding statutory contributions for the period under review.
The Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North), is investigating audit queries issued by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation on the operations of the extractive industries between 2021 and 2023.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Shehu, has disclosed that Nigeria spent ₦1.16 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021, while an additional ₦1.20 trillion was deducted from the federation’s crude oil sales proceeds during the same period.
Shehu, who disclosed this while presenting the commission’s submission before the committee investigating the 2021–2023 audit reports on the oil and gas sector, stated that fuel subsidy payments constituted a significant drain on public finances, while other deductions from crude oil revenue included ₦16.20 billion for crude and petroleum product losses, ₦22.05 billion for pipeline repairs and ₦6.75 billion for strategic stock holding.
He also raised concerns over the computation of the 13 per cent derivation fund, arguing that the current method undermines the constitutional objective of the policy.
