EFCC recovers N115bn, $84m NDDC levy from oil firms

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered over N115 billion and $84 million in outstanding statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by oil companies, according to the EFCC. This revelation was made before the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, during their ongoing investigation into the findings of the 2021-2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report.

EFCC spokesperson, Francis Usani, informed the committee that 43 oil companies were investigated in response to queries raised in the NEITI audit. Out of these, 24 companies operating in the oil-rich Niger Delta were found to have outstanding liabilities arising from the three percent statutory levy payable to the NDDC. Initially, these 24 companies were believed to owe N76.88 billion and $81.08 million. However, after the investigation, 19 companies were cleared of any liabilities.

Usani reported that the EFCC's intervention led to some of the affected companies settling their obligations directly with the NDDC. As a result, the companies have paid N6.71 billion and $16.99 million directly to the commission. The EFCC has also released N73.37 billion and $67.07 million of the recovered funds to the NDDC, leaving a balance of N3.51 billion and $14.01 million in their recovery account.