Nigeria has generated a whopping $831.14 billion in revenue from the oil and gas sector between 1999 and 2023, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
This revelation was made by NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, during a briefing with the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on Monday.
However, Orji also highlighted some concerning issues, including the estimated 701.48 million barrels of crude oil stolen since 2009, which has resulted in significant revenue losses for the country.
Additionally, he noted that Nigeria requires a massive $20 billion annually for the next 10 years to develop its gas infrastructure.
The solid minerals sector also came under scrutiny, with Orji revealing that it contributed 1.56 trillion naira in revenue between 2021 and 2023. Despite this, the sector still accounts for less than 1% of the country’s GDP.
The top states for solid minerals activities in 2021 were Ogun, Kogi, Cross Rivers, and the Federal Capital Territory.
NEITI has called for a review of the Solid Minerals Act to ease operations in the sector, similar to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which was passed to address challenges in the oil and gas sector.
Furthermore, Orji disclosed that $6.1 billion in outstanding revenue from royalties remains uncollected by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The implementation of the PIA has also raised concerns, with Orji stating that the absence of a clear strategy has allowed industry players to operate with minimal oversight.
He recommended that a new committee be set up or the previous committee’s work be revisited to address this issue.
In response to these findings, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has announced plans to conduct a public hearing on revenue generation by agencies such as the NNPCL, FIRS, and NUPRC. The agencies will be summoned to explain their revenue operations, according to Senator Aliyu Wadada.