NEITI recovers $4.85b debt from oil and gas firms 4 years after audit report
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Up to $4.85 billion has been recovered from debt owed by oil and gas companies in the country, four years after the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) published its audit report.
NEITI Executive Secretary Orji Orji disclosed that 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 audit of the industry in 2021.
He disclosed that total debts by oil firms could cover 72 per cent of the federal budget deficit of N13 trillion for 2025.
In his view, however, the recovery demonstrates the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the extractive sector, but 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),” Orji stressed.
“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 lamented that despite efforts by NEITI to ensure financial accountability in the oil and gas sector, several companies continue to default on payments.
He urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to take stronger enforcement actions against defaulters as well as more stringent measures to prevent future revenue leakages.
He disclosed that debts by oil companies could cover 72 per cent of the federal budget deficit of N13 trillion for 2025.
“Analyses of how these liabilities, when paid, could support the federal government’s domestic revenue mobilisation 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 per cent 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.”
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