THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered a total of N83.59 billion and $98.07 million in outstanding three per cent statutory levies owed by some oil companies to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
News Point Nigeria reports that the commission disclosed this on Wednesday when its Special Adviser on Regulatory Compliance, Francis Usani, appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts investigating findings contained in the 2021–2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) oil and gas industry audit report.
Read also: EFCC Arrests Abuja Businessman Over Alleged $120m Fraud Involving Ukrainian Investor
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, representing Gombe North, is probing outstanding statutory obligations by oil companies and other entities operating in the extractive sector.
According to the EFCC’s investigation report, the NEITI audit identified N90.046 billion and $229.534 million in outstanding three per cent NDDC levies covering the period between 2015 and 2020.
Usani said the EFCC invited 43 oil companies following the findings contained in the NEITI report and discovered that 24 companies operating in the Niger Delta had outstanding liabilities.
He said 19 other companies were found to have no outstanding liabilities and were subsequently released after the investigation.
“The EFCC recovered N76.884 billion and $81.077 million directly from the 24 companies, with the money paid into its recovery account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he said.
He explained that the commission subsequently released N73.373 billion and $67.071 million to the NDDC.
According to him, as of July 31, N3.510 billion and $14.006 million remained in the EFCC’s recovery account.
Read also: $6.23m Fraud Trial: Court Reserves Ruling On Emefiele’s No-Case Submission
The commission also disclosed that some oil companies paid N6.710 billion and $16.994 million directly into the NDDC’s revenue account following its intervention.
The payments, he said, were made at the instance of the EFCC, with the affected companies subsequently submitting receipts to the commission for confirmation.
When the funds directly recovered by the EFCC and those paid directly into the NDDC’s account are combined, the total amount recovered stands at about N83.59 billion and $98.07 million.
Usani said the EFCC’s investigation focused primarily on the unpaid three per cent statutory levy due to the NDDC, as identified in the NEITI report.
He, however, disclosed that the commission was also looking into the possibility of other outstanding statutory obligations and taxes owed to the Federal Government.
“The EFCC focused on one primary pillar identified in the NEITI report, which is unpaid three per cent statutory levies due to NDDC,” he said.
“However, we did not lose sight of the fact that there could be other unpaid statutory obligations and taxes due to the federal government.”
The Senate panel is examining the NEITI 2021–2023 oil and gas sector audit report, particularly allegations of non-remittance and under-remittance of statutory payments by operators in the oil and gas industry.
The investigation is also expected to establish the level of compliance by oil companies with their financial obligations to the NDDC and other government agencies, while identifying possible revenue leakages in the sector.
