The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audit report has revealed that the Federal Government recovered N600 billion from Nigerian oil and gas companies.
According to the Punch, this is made up of unpaid taxes, royalties, penalties, and rental commissions. The total debt of the 77 oil companies as of 2019 was N2.6 trillion.
While speaking to journalists in Abuja on Friday, Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, revealed that the 2021 oil industry audit report will be published before the end of 2022.
Mr Orji noted that it is NEITI’s responsibility to furnish the government with Nigeria’s extractive industry data.
He said that the report will reveal the number of oil firms that have paid to the FG, how much was paid and how much the government received.
“The 2021 (oil and gas sector) report will be concluded and published before the end of the year. The scope of the report is to establish what companies paid to the government within the given year of 2021 and how much of that money did government receive.
“We equally want to establish if those companies paid what they should pay and if the government actually received what it should receive, as well as the variances if any.
“We want to establish the quantity of crude that is produced, how much of that can be accounted for, and how much was stolen. We should establish the amount that was exported, reserved for local consumption and how this reserve was managed,” Mr Orji said.
Documents obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Friday indicated that while the total recovery pre-2021 and before the pronouncement of NEITI was N900bn, the additional amount recovered after NEITI’s pronouncement/National Assembly review was N600bn.
The oil firms started remitting the funds following an invitation by the House of Representatives.
NEITI had told the House during one of its plenary sessions that 77 oil firms which were operating in Nigeria owed the government N2.6 trillion.
According to the House, the debt emanated as a result of the failure of the oil firms to remit to the federal government, Petroleum Profit Tax, Company Income Tax, Education Tax, Value Added Tax, Withholding Tax, Royalties, penalties and concession on rentals.
