The Nigerian Senate has raised alarm over more than $300 billion unaccounted crude oil proceeds, describing the shortfall as one of the biggest cases of economic leakage in the nation’s history.
The revelation came after the presentation of an interim report by the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft, chaired by Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North).
According to the report, several billions of dollars in oil revenues between 2015 and 2024 remain unaccounted for a situation the lawmakers blamed on what they called “systemic theft, weak oversight, and institutional failure.”
Presenting the report, Senator Nwoko linked the recurring losses to poor measurement systems, sabotage in the oil sector, and lack of coordination among regulatory agencies.
Lawmakers , while backing the findings, cautioned the committee against attempting direct recovery of stolen funds insisting that such powers rest solely with the Executive.
Presiding earlier, Deputy Senate President, Senator Jubril Barau, clarified that while the National Assembly lacks the legal authority to recover funds, it can make formal recommendations to the Executive, which remains at the discretion of the President to implement.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the Nwoko-led committee for what he described as a courageous step toward accountability. But the senate will not be going into the prayers until the committee submit the full reports.
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