EFCC probe forces 24 oil firms to pay N115bn, $84m NDDC levies

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has successfully recovered more than N115 billion and $84 million in outstanding statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The agency reported this development to the Senate Public Accounts Committee, which is investigating issues highlighted in the 2021–2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report.

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At the commencement of investigation, EFCC invited 43 oil companies, out of which 24 operating within the Niger Delta were found to have outstanding liabilities in the sums of N76,883,705,907.17 and $81,076,655.00, while the remaining 19 other oil companies were given a clean bill of health.

Francis Usani, representing the EFCC, informed the committee that the commission investigated 43 oil companies based on queries from the NEITI audit. Out of these, 24 companies operating in the Niger Delta region were found to have unpaid liabilities concerning the three percent statutory levy mandated for the NDDC. Initially, these 24 companies owed approximately N76.88 billion and $81.08 million, while 19 other companies were cleared after the investigation.

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Out of the sums so far recovered by the commission on behalf of NDDC, total sums of N73.37bn and $67.07m have been released to NDDC, leaving the balance of N3.51bn and $14.01m in EFCC’s recovery account.

Usani explained that the EFCC's intervention prompted some of the indebted companies to settle their obligations directly with the NDDC, paying N6.71 billion and $16.99 million. The EFCC has since released N73.37 billion and $67.07 million of the recovered funds to the NDDC, with N3.51 billion and $14.01 million remaining in the commission’s recovery account. This recovery effort adds a crucial financial dimension to the Senate's broader examination of revenue shortfalls and unresolved liabilities within Nigeria's oil and gas sector, as detailed in NEITI's audits.

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The EFCC focused on one primary pillar identified in the NEITI report, i.e., unpaid three per cent statutory levies due to NDDC, but we did not lose sight of the fact that there could be other unpaid statutory obligations and taxes due to the Federal Government.