The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that oil companies and some government agencies owe the federation about N1.5 trillion in unremitted oil and gas revenues.
NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, made the revelation at the 2025 NAEC Energy Conference in Lagos on Thursday, warning that weak accountability continues to drain national income from the oil sector.
According to Orji, the debts were uncovered in NEITI’s 2021–2022 Oil and Gas Industry Reports, which showed that while Nigeria earned $23.04 billion in 2021 and $23.05 billion in 2022, several entities failed to remit what was due to the government.
“These outstanding remittances of about N1.5 trillion could have significantly supported energy infrastructure, education, and healthcare if recovered,” Orji stated.
He lamented that poor governance and lack of transparency have created major leakages in the sector, noting that Nigeria lost 13.5 million barrels of crude oil in 2022 alone to theft and sabotage — a loss estimated at $3.3 billion.
“That revenue could have financed the entire federal health budget for a year or provided energy access to millions of households,” he said.
Orji emphasized that transparency and accountability are no longer optional but vital to Nigeria’s survival as an energy-producing nation.
“Nigeria’s energy future will not be defined by the size of our reserves or our production capacity, but by how transparently we manage our natural resources — the revenues, data, contracts, and decisions that shape our destiny,” he added.
The NEITI boss described transparency as an economic necessity, not a bureaucratic exercise. “Data builds trust, and trust drives investment. Transparency attracts capital, technology, and partnerships,” he said.
Orji also highlighted reforms undertaken by NEITI to deepen governance in the extractive sector. These include regular audits of the oil, gas, and solid minerals sectors; the creation of a Beneficial Ownership Register covering over 4,800 extractive assets; the establishment of the NEITI Data Centre; and the introduction of the Just Energy Transition and Climate Accountability Framework.
“These are not ceremonial milestones. They are practical governance tools designed to make transparency the DNA of Nigeria’s extractive sector,” he noted.
He further charged members of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) to use NEITI’s data to hold both government and operators accountable, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to ensuring that every kobo earned from the nation’s resources is transparently accounted for.
“At NEITI, we are committed to ensuring that every barrel produced and every cubic foot of gas commercialised contributes to national development in full public view,” Orji said.
