Commission says 24 oil firms owed ₦76.88bn and $81.08m in statutory payments between 2021 and 2023.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered more than ₦115 billion in statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by defaulting oil companies between 2021 and 2023.
An EFCC representative, Francis Oka-Phillips Usani, disclosed this on Wednesday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which was investigating the 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Usani said the commission investigated 43 oil companies over outstanding three per cent statutory levies payable to the NDDC, with 24 companies found to have outstanding liabilities of ₦76.88 billion and $81.08 million. The remaining 19 companies were cleared of any outstanding liabilities.
He said some of the affected companies paid their outstanding obligations directly to the NDDC following the EFCC investigation, with the payments amounting to ₦6.709 billion and $16.994 million.
According to Usani, ₦73.373 billion and $67.070 million recovered by the EFCC had been released to the NDDC, while ₦3.510 billion and $14.005 million remained in the commission’s recovery account.
He added that the EFCC was also examining other possible outstanding statutory obligations and taxes owed to the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, the Senate Public Accounts Committee rejected an attempt by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited to respond to queries raised against the company in the audit report, citing inadequate representation.
The committee subsequently directed the company’s Managing Director to appear personally before it at a date to be fixed next week.