NEITI moves to recover $6b from oil industry stakeholders

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has reiterated its resolve to recover about $6 billion and another N66 billion owed the Federal Government by stakeholders in the oil sector.

Executive Secretary of the agency, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, made this known on Monday while defending the 2025 budget before the House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Upstream, chaired by Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa.

Orji disclosed that based on NEITI reports for 2020 and 2021, over $3.7 billion was recovered into government coffers as outstanding liabilities from companies operating in the oil and gas sector in the country.

Orji explained that his outfit is already collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to achieve the objective.

Stating that NEITI would not relent in enthroning transparency and accountability in the oil and gas, as well as the mining sectors, he disclosed that his outfit was handed a budget envelope of N6.5 billion for the 2025 financial year.

This, he said, is made up of N2.220 billion for personnel, N1.722 billion for overhead, and N2.575 billion for capital projects.

He said some of the critical activities of the agency in 2025 would include conducting industry reports on the oil, gas, and mining sectors, as well as fiscal allocation and statutory disbursement audits, research studies on the actual volume of PMS consumed in Nigeria, the economic impact of energy transition in Nigeria, and a national perception survey on EITI implementation in Nigeria.

Nevertheless, the committee queried the agency over the duplication of items budgeted for in 2024, while also including items that are not relevant in view of the prevailing economic circumstances in the country.

Kafilat Ogbara (Lagos: APC) questioned NEITI for budgeting N32 million for meals in the 2025 budget when Nigerians are going through hard times.

Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos), who spoke in the same vein, remarked that the National Assembly is not gullible to rubber-stamp any budgetary request from ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) of government.

Doguwa also faulted the language used by the agency in the preparation of the budget and the inclusion of the National Assembly as those benefiting from its welfare package.

Doguwa said that since the committee was constituted, it has not visited the agency on oversight, wondering why they would be included in such a welfare package, adding that the only welfare the House expects from them is the welfare of the Nigerian people.

He said, “While I agree that the budget stops at our desk and you are just presenting a proposal, I would like to say that the economy is actually bad. The population of people for whom we are actually here are crying out. Agencies of government must be mindful of what they spend out of public resources.

“All these proposals are going to be spent at the expense of the Nigerian people. Sometimes, we come to make presentations here that sound funny and very insulting in the eyes of the people. When you say in your projections things like welfare packages in the form of ex-gratia, health insurance, welfare packages to staff, and some critical stakeholders during welfare packages.”

He, however, assured that the committee was ready to support the agency in actualizing its mandate, saying, “Your agency is a critical one and the legislature appreciates the work that you are doing.”