The Federal Government says it recovered about N2.6 trillion from oil firms following the intervention by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and National Assembly.
NEITI however said about $2.6 billion remained outstanding in the hands of companies as at March 2022.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Tuesday, in Abuja at its Civil Society Organisations (CSO), and media engagement on Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) validation.
The EITI validation, which is conducted every three years, is a quality assurance mechanism to ascertain level of compliance and progress in implementing its standards among member countries, including Nigeria.
Orji said NEITI’s financial report led to the recovery of the debt, adding that “By the time we release the 2021 report, any company owing Nigeria we have no choice than to invite EFCC to take over and handle it as an economic crime.”
He said the recovery was as a result of NEITI’s appearance at the National Assembly to defend its position based on data it provided.
This shows that from the point we released that information a lot of money came in. None of them disputed our report; rather they were giving excuses why they did not pay.
The NEITI 2019 report included a list of 77 oil and gas companies that owed the government up to $6.8 billion, and the National Assembly summoned the firms to a hearing.
Afterwards, Orji disclosed that the number of debtor companies reduced to 51 and the amount fell to $3.6 billion by the time NEITI released the 2020 report.
He said: “This shows that from the point we released that information a lot of money came in. None of them disputed our report; rather they were giving excuses why they did not pay.
“The money includes all taxes and VAT being collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and all royalties being collected by the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
“NEITI collects nothing, all we are asking is for us to be recognised and offered to thank you.”
He said through NEITI, there had been increased demand, easy access and availability of verified information and data in the public domain.
