A Forensic Shockwave in Nigeria’s Oil Heartland
Nigeria’s Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Oil Theft has revealed staggering losses from crude oil diversions worth more than $303 billion.
The funds, according to a new forensic audit, were siphoned through the now-defunct Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) programme operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) between 2017 and 2022.
The report details how crude oil designated as Tax Oil, Royalty Oil, and Profit Oil was manipulated through opaque sales, offshore accounts, and under-reported exports.
Between 2017 and 2021 alone, over $22 billion vanished through mismatched figures, diverted shipments, and unaccounted remittances.
“These diversions are a national emergency,” Senator Ned Munir Nwoko warned, presenting the report to the Senate on Thursday. “They represent one of the largest economic leakages in Nigeria’s history.”
A Deep Hole of Diversion and Systemic Fraud
In 2017, fifteen oil marketers lifted 71.8 million barrels of domestic crude valued at $3.95 billion. About 27 percent — worth $1.09 billion — never reached official accounts.
The trend worsened in 2019. Of the $6.78 billion in domestic crude lifted, $3.03 billion was lost through unauthorized diversions.
The committee’s review also traced more than 57 vessels that diverted shipments valued at $4.49 billion between January and May 2022. The same year, Tax Oil valued at $696 million disappeared into private accounts abroad.
The audit team reported a $81 billion shortfall between crude export revenues declared by NNPCL and actual receipts at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2016 to 2017.
By 2022, estimated cumulative diversions exceeded $200 billion, involving complex offshore routing and illegal sales networks in the UK, US, and Canada.
Senators Demand Accountability
The Senate Committee’s consultants identified ten offshore crude oil accounts maintained outside government control.
They faulted weak inter-agency coordination, obsolete monitoring systems, and deliberate collusion between regulators and private operators.
Senator Nwoko, who presented the findings, said:
“The forensic trail shows systematic plunder. The losses are recoverable — but only with coordinated domestic and international recovery efforts.”
He recommended establishing a special oil theft court, reforming upstream monitoring through real-time technology, and restoring the Weights and Measures Department to ensure accurate crude metering.
The committee also urged the Federal Government to authorize a vetted service provider to recover stolen oil and proceeds under strict transparency.
Trust, Transparency, and Investor Confidence
Economists warn that persistent oil theft undermines Nigeria’s fiscal stability and investor confidence.
Energy analyst Funke Olatunji said the findings highlight “a governance black hole that scares away capital.”
Oil revenue remains Nigeria’s fiscal backbone. Yet, with $303 billion unaccounted for, the gap threatens to derail the country’s medium-term revenue framework and its creditworthiness with international lenders.
The Senate’s exposure may restore some trust — but only if prosecutions follow and recoveries are transparent.