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The Federal Ministry of Finance has dismissed claims that $12.4 billion in Nigeria’s external accounts is missing, saying the figure reflects a statistical discrepancy rather than evidence of stolen or withheld oil revenue.
The ministry’s response follows reports on the World Bank’s October 2026 Nigeria Development Update, which identified a negative balance of payments residual of $12.4 billion in the first half of the year.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Maryann Duke, Senior Special Assistant, Communications and Press Secretary, the ministry said the reports misrepresented the World Bank’s findings by presenting the figure as an unexplained loss of funds.
According to the ministry, the World Bank classified the amount as “net errors and omissions”, a standard accounting item used when recorded data on a country’s international transactions do not fully balance.
“It does not mean money has gone missing, been stolen or been withheld. It is not an account or a sum held anywhere,” the ministry said.
It added that the World Bank suggested unrepatriated oil proceeds could explain part of the discrepancy, while also acknowledging that gaps in data collection may have contributed.
The ministry stressed that the report did not identify any specific amount, company or crude oil cargo linked to the $12.4 billion figure. It therefore rejected claims that the amount represented oil earnings lost or withheld from the country.
To support its position, the ministry cited other figures in the World Bank report, which showed that Nigeria recorded a current account surplus of $12 billion in the first half of 2026.
It also noted that the country’s gross external reserves increased from $45.5 billion at the end of 2025 to $53.8 billion at the end of August 2026.
“These facts were overshadowed by the media’s headline framing. An economy losing US$12 billion in six months would not be adding over US$8 billion to its reserves,” the statement said.
The ministry explained that a country’s balance of payments tracks economic transactions between its residents and the rest of the world through current, capital and financial accounts.
However, the figures are compiled from different sources, including customs records, crude oil liftings and bank reports.
Differences in the records can create a residual without establishing the exact cause of the discrepancy.
The ministry said Nigeria had recorded a negative residual in seven of the past eight years.
World Bank data showed that the figures ranged from a positive $17 billion in 2020 to a negative $24.9 billion in 2023.
It also cited international examples, noting that the United States recorded negative residuals of $138 billion in 2023 and $97 billion in 2025, while the United Kingdom recorded a positive $23.6 billion in 2024. Brazil recorded a negative $5.7 billion.
The ministry identified under-recorded remittances, informal cross-border trade, delayed export payments and provisional data as possible contributors to the first-half figure.
It said an estimated $10 billion in remittances moves through informal channels or remains abroad annually. Such funds may not pass through the banking system or enter official foreign reserve records.
The ministry added that imports and exports across land borders, alongside payments for services such as education, healthcare and digital transactions, might not be fully captured in official data.
On oil proceeds, it explained that crude cargoes are recorded when lifted, while payment may take between 30 and 90 days.
Oil companies and their partners may also lawfully retain their share of proceeds abroad, while crude cargoes tied to loan arrangements may be used to repay lenders offshore.
“These are not leakages. They show up in the residual when the related foreign assets or debt repayments of the whole economy, not just government, are not fully recorded,” the ministry said.
It added that the figures were preliminary and could change as further returns from companies and banks became available.
The ministry said it would continue working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and other relevant agencies to improve the recording of external transactions.
It also urged commentators and media organisations to consult experts on technical financial issues and avoid what it described as “hasty and invalid conclusions”.
