EFCC recovers N115bn, $84m NDDC in unpaid NDDC levies from 24 oil firms

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered N115 billion in outstanding statutory levies owed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by oil companies, the anti-graft agency has disclosed.

The recovery covers liabilities identified between 2021 and 2023 and comprises N76.883 billion and $81.076 million in unpaid three per cent statutory levies due to the NDDC.

An EFCC representative, Francis Oka-Phillips Usani, disclosed this on Wednesday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts in Abuja.

The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, is examining queries contained in the 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Usani told the lawmakers that the EFCC investigated 43 oil companies following the NEITI findings, with 24 companies operating in the Niger Delta found to have outstanding liabilities to the NDDC.

He said the remaining 19 companies were cleared after the investigation established that they had no outstanding liabilities.

“At the commencement of investigation, EFCC invited 43 oil companies out of which 24 operating within the Niger Delta were found to have outstanding liabilities in the sums of N76,883,705,907.17 and $81,076,655.00, while the remaining 19 other oil companies were given clean bill of health,” Usani said.

According to him, pressure from the investigation led some of the affected companies to settle their obligations directly with the NDDC.

He said the companies paid N6.709 billion and $16.994 million directly to the commission.

Usani added that the EFCC had recovered a further N73.373 billion and $67.070 million on behalf of the NDDC and released the funds to the commission.