The Senate on Wednesday received an interim report from its Ad Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft, revealing that Nigeria may have lost over $300 billion to unaccounted crude proceeds caused by collusion, poor oversight, and sabotage.
Committee chair Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North) said the probe uncovered “systemic irregularities, poor measurement standards, and weak enforcement” across the oil sector.
The preliminary document, which runs into about 40 pages, lays out proposed reforms and urgent actions.
“We are proposing to go straight to the recommendations as the full report is voluminous.
“The Ad-hoc Committee should be given the mandate to track, trace and recover all proceeds of stolen crude oil transactions, both locally and internationally, as forensic review by the Consultants shows over $22bn, $81bn and $200bn remains unaccounted.
“The committee, after extensive assessment, recommends that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission should strictly enforce internationally accepted crude oil measurement standards at all production sites and export terminals,” Nwoko said.
The report urged the Federal Government to deploy modern surveillance tools, including drones, to secure pipelines and export routes.
It also recommended a Maritime Trust Fund to boost security and intelligence, special courts for oil theft cases, full implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund, and transfer of abandoned wells to the NUPRC for proper management.
However, the recovery proposal sparked immediate debate.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) praised the committee’s report as “detailed and commendable” but stressed that recovering stolen funds is beyond the Senate’s powers.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio praised the committee’s work but noted that recovery lies with executive agencies. He directed it to submit a final report with full data, named actors, and actionable steps.
The PUNCH
