NEITI, EFCC Collaborates To Recover $6bn, N66bn Oil Debt

By Angel Ike

Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said it is in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover about six billion dollars and another N66 billion owed the Federal government by industry stakeholders in the oil sector.

Executive Secretary of the agency, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji stated this during the 2025 budget defence organised by he House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Upstream in Abuja.

Orji said that the agency has presented all its reports in the extractive industry to the parliament.

He added that the agency was handed a budget envelope of N6.5 billion for the 2025 financial year.

This is made up of N2.220 billion for personnel, N1.722 billion for overhead and N2.575 billion for capital projects.

He highlighted some of the critical activities of the agency in the year 2025 to.include conducting industry report of the oil gas and mining sector, as well as fiscal allocation and statutory disbursement audit, research studies on the actual volume of PMS consumed in Nigeria, the economic impact of energy transition in Nigeria and a national perception survey EITI implementation in Nigeria.

He said from its 2020 and 2021 report alone, over 3.7 billion dollars were recovered into government coffers as outstanding liabilities from companies operating in the Oil and gas sector in the country.

Members of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Upstream queried the agency for repeating items budgeted for in 2024, while also including items that are not justifiable in the current economic situation in the country.

Kafilat Ogbara said agencies of government should ensure that what they bring to the parliament as their budget comply with the line items specified in the budget and not just see the annual budget as a ritual of appropriating money so as to get their own share of the national cake.

Ogbara queried why the agency will budget N32 million for meals in the 2025 budget when Nigerians are going through hard times saying “there is no way you can spend that amount of money for meals in a year.

Ademorin Kuye advised that, in preparing the annual budget agencies of government should be mindful of the economic situation in the country, adding that the impression of Nigerians is that the National Assembly is a rubber stamp and will approve anything that is brought to them by government agencies.

Chairman of the Committee, Alhassan Doguwa also frowned at the agency’s language used in presenting the budge and the inclusion of the National Assembly as those benefiting from its welfare package.

Doguwa said that the committee has not visited the agency on oversight since it was created, wondering why they will be included in such welfare package.

“He said, “while I agree that the budget stops at our desk and you are just presenting a proposal, I will like to say that the economy is actually bad, the population of people for whom we are actually representing here are crying out. Agencies of government must be mindful of what they spend out of public resources.”