Nigerian House of Representatives vows to investigate N8 trillion unremitted revenue and fuel subsidy scam

During its plenary session on Wednesday, the House of Representatives pledged to initiate an investigation into the matter of N8 trillion in unremitted revenue and the fuel subsidy controversy. This decision came after the House received the 2021 Oil and Gas Report from the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

The report presentation aligns with Section 4(3) of the NEITI Act and was presented by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, the chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), and co-sponsored by Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, the chairman of the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).

Upon receiving the report, the House referred it to its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream) for further examination.

While laying the report, Ugochinyere pointed out that Section 4(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) grants the National Assembly the authority to create laws for the peace, order, and good governance of the Federation or its parts.

He disclosed that the unremitted revenues included $278.813 million earned by the Federation from trial marketing under the First Exploration and Production JV, $7.61 million from OML 116, which is operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), and $5.85 billion in proceeds from the sales of domestic crude oil, along with about $871.15 million in unremitted crude oil sales.

The report also highlighted that the total outstanding taxes payable to the Federal Inland Revenue Service as of July 31, 2023, amounted to US$13.591 million. Simultaneously, the total amount of outstanding Federation revenue payable to the NUPRC as of December 31, 2022, stood at US$8.251 billion.

The NEITI 2021 report, released on September 18, 2023, contains significant findings and recommendations that are crucial for the development of the oil and gas sector.