Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has raised concerns over the magnitude of losses and unremitted revenues in the oil and gas sector, warning that poor accountability has continued to undermine Nigeria’s health and infrastructure development.

Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed that Nigeria lost 13.5 million barrels of crude oil valued at $3.3 billion to theft and sabotage in 2022 alone, while N1.5 trillion remains unremitted to the Federation Account by some companies and government agencies.

Speaking at the National Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) yearly conference, themed “Nigeria’s Energy Future: Exploring Opportunities and Addressing Risks for Sustainable Growth” in Lagos, Orji said the findings underscore the urgent need for transparency and accountability across the energy value chain.

According to him, the latest NEITI industry reports revealed that Nigeria earned $23.04 billion in 2021 and $23.05 billion in 2022 from the oil and gas sector. Despite these revenues, the country has continued to suffer major setbacks due to unremitted funds and oil theft. He added that the outstanding N1.5 trillion owed to the Federation could significantly support energy infrastructure, education, and healthcare if recovered.

Emphasising NEITI’s core mandate, Orji said data builds trust, and trust drives investment. He described transparency not as a bureaucratic exercise but an economic imperative that attracts capital, technology, and partnerships.

He said Nigeria’s energy future would not be defined by the size of its reserves or production capacity, but by how transparently and prudently it manages its natural resource wealth, including the revenues, data, contracts, and decisions that shape its national destiny.

Highlighting NEITI’s reforms, Orji said the agency had evolved from an auditing outfit to a governance reform institution through the institutionalisation of regular sector audits, creation of the Beneficial Ownership Register covering over 4,800 extractive assets, and the launch of the NEITI Data Centre for real-time public access to industry information.

He further cited partnerships with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to promote transparency in licensing, metering, and host community trust management.

In alignment with NEITI’s transparency agenda, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, represented, disclosed that concerted regulatory reforms had led to a 90 per cent reduction in crude oil theft, dropping from 102,000 barrels per day in 2021 to 9,600 barrels per day as of September 2025.