N9.33tn unpaid liabilities: NEITI recovers $4.85bn from oil and gas companies in Nigeria

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has said it has recovered $4.85 billion from unpaid liabilities owed by oil and gas companies in the country.

NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Orji, disclosed this during a press conference at the weekend.

He said the recovery is part of the total $8.26 billion, or N9.33 trillion (at an exchange rate of N1,500 per dollar), identified in NEITI’s 2021 oil and gas audit report.

He noted that the development demonstrates the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive sector.

According to him, while significant progress has been made in recovering funds, unresolved financial liabilities remain a major concern.

“So far, over $4.85 billion has been recovered from the disclosed $8.26 billion (identified in NEITI’s 2021 oil and gas report). In the 2023 industry reports released in September 2024, NEITI disclosed liabilities of $6.175 billion and N66.378 billion, showing a significant decline from the liabilities in the 2021 reports, yet still worrisome due to the need for the government to find resources to fund its 2025 budget,” Orji added.

He lamented that despite NEITI’s efforts to ensure financial accountability in the oil and gas sector, several companies continue to default on payments.

The NEITI boss urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to take stronger enforcement actions against defaulters and adopt more stringent measures to prevent future revenue leakages.

He stressed that the total unpaid liabilities by oil companies in the country could cover 72 percent of the federal government’s budget deficit of N13 trillion for 2025.

“Analyses of how these liabilities, when paid, could support the federal government’s domestic revenue mobilization reveal that the liabilities, when converted at N1,500 to one dollar, would amount to N9.33 trillion.

“The sum is more than the federal government’s total budget for health, education, agriculture, and food security, which totals N8.73 trillion. Further analyses show that the sum is also more than the total budget for national security (N6.11 trillion), health (N2.48 trillion), and social welfare (N724 billion) combined. The liabilities can also offset about 72 percent of the federal government’s budget deficit of N13 trillion for 2025.

“NEITI is therefore calling on relevant agencies responsible for collecting these revenues to do the needful and support our governments at all levels in providing the much-needed infrastructure for our citizens,” he stated.