By Ademola Adekusibe
November 6, 2025.
The Senate has uncovered over $300 billion in unaccounted crude oil proceeds, following an ongoing investigation into large-scale theft and revenue leakages in Nigeria’s oil sector.
The revelation came on Wednesday when Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North), chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Sabotage in the Niger Delta, presented the committee’s interim report during plenary.
Nwoko said the committee’s preliminary findings point to “massive and deeply troubling” losses from years of unreported or diverted crude oil sales.
“Our findings so far indicate that Nigeria has lost in excess of $300 billion due to unaccounted-for crude oil exports. The scale of theft, under-declaration, and systemic sabotage uncovered so far is enormous,” Nwoko said.
He added that evidence from multiple sources, including industry regulators, security agencies, and oil operators, showed extensive manipulation of production data and export documentation. According to him, the theft rings involve both local and international collaborators who have taken advantage of weak monitoring systems and poor inter-agency coordination.
The committee also discovered that some pipelines in the Niger Delta were illegally tapped into and re-routed to undisclosed offshore loading points, resulting in billions of dollars in unremitted revenue to the Federation Account.
“It is not just theft; it is economic sabotage on an industrial scale,” Nwoko said, adding that the committee will submit a comprehensive report with recommendations for accountability and reform.
The Senate had in August 2024 constituted the ad hoc committee to probe crude oil theft following alarming reports that Nigeria was losing over 400,000 barrels of crude per day, despite steady production levels reported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
In previous assessments, both NEITI and civil society monitors had raised concerns over discrepancies between Nigeria’s declared export volumes and global import data, suggesting widespread under-reporting and illicit trading.
Meanwhile, the Senate leadership has pledged to support the committee’s effort and ensure that its final report leads to concrete policy and institutional reforms to safeguard Nigeria’s most critical revenue source.
