EFCC recovers N115bn, $81m NDDC debts from oil companies

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered more than N115 billion in outstanding statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by oil companies between 2021 and 2023.

The commission disclosed this on Wednesday when its representative, Francis Oka-Phillips Usani, appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts investigating queries contained in the 2021–2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Oil and Gas Sector Audit Reports.

Usani told the committee, chaired by Ibrahim Dankwambo, that the liabilities identified during the investigation comprised N76.883 billion and $81.076 million.

According to him, the EFCC investigated 43 oil companies over the unpaid three per cent statutory levy payable to the NDDC, with 24 companies found to have outstanding obligations.

He said the remaining 19 companies were cleared after investigations established that they had no outstanding liabilities relating to the levy.

“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 clean bill of health,” Usani said.

He explained that following the investigation and pressure mounted on the affected companies, some of them paid their outstanding obligations directly to the NDDC.

The payments, he said, amounted to N6.709 billion and $16.994 million.

Usani further disclosed that of the funds recovered by the EFCC on behalf of the NDDC, N73.373 billion and $67.070 million had so far been released to the commission.

He added that N3.510 billion and $14.005 million remained in the EFCC’s recovery account.

The EFCC representative said the commission’s investigation was primarily focused on the unpaid three per cent statutory levy due to the NDDC, as identified in the NEITI audit report.

However, he noted that the investigation did not rule out the possibility of other unpaid statutory obligations and taxes owed to the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, the Senate committee rejected an attempt by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited to respond to queries against the company in the audit report, citing inadequate representation.

The committee consequently directed the Managing Director of TotalEnergies to appear personally before it on a date to be fixed next week.

It also issued a final invitation to the Managing Directors of South Atlantic Petroleum Limited, Oando Oil Limited, Famfa Oil and Green Energy International Limited to appear physically before the committee and respond to the queries against their companies.

Speaking after Wednesday’s proceedings, Dankwambo said the investigation would continue on Thursday.