The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered a combined N83.59 billion and $98.07 million in unpaid three per cent statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by 24 oil companies, the agency told a Senate committee on Wednesday, August 13, 2026.
Francis Usani, the EFCC's special adviser on regulatory compliance, presented the figures before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which is probing findings from the 2021–2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) oil and gas industry audit report. The committee is chaired by Ibrahim Dankwambo, the senator representing Gombe North.
How the EFCC traced the debts
The NEITI audit had flagged N90.046 billion and $229.534 million in outstanding three per cent NDDC levies covering the period from 2015 to 2020. Acting on those findings, the EFCC invited 43 oil companies for questioning. Of those, 24 were found to have unpaid liabilities, while the remaining 19 were cleared and released after the investigation.
Usani said the EFCC collected N76.884 billion and $81.077 million directly from the 24 defaulting companies, with all recovered funds deposited into a recovery account held at the Central Bank of Nigeria. The commission subsequently released N73.373 billion and $67.071 million to the NDDC. As of July 31, a balance of N3.510 billion and $14.006 million remained in the EFCC's recovery account.
Direct payments to NDDC
Beyond what the EFCC collected into its own account, some oil companies paid an additional N6.710 billion and $16.994 million directly into the NDDC's revenue account at the commission's insistence. Those companies then presented receipts to the EFCC for confirmation. When both streams of payment are combined, the total recovery reaches roughly N83.59 billion and $98.07 million.
Usani stressed that the commission's primary focus throughout the investigation was the unpaid three per cent NDDC levy identified in the NEITI report, but added that the EFCC was also examining whether other statutory obligations and taxes were owed to the federal government.
"The EFCC focused on one primary pillar identified in the NEITI report, which is unpaid three per cent statutory levies due to NDDC. However, we did not lose sight of the fact that there could be other unpaid statutory obligations and taxes due to the federal government," he said.
The senate committee's broader mandate is to determine the extent to which oil and gas operators have met their financial obligations to the NDDC and other government agencies, and to pinpoint any revenue leakages in the sector.
ICPC uncovers ghost workers
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovered a series of ghost worker schemes in which government officials enrolled family members on public payrolls to fraudulently collect multiple salaries. ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu made the disclosure on Thursday, August 13, in Abuja during his keynote address at the 2026 Economic Confidential Lecture and National Spokespersons Award, an event organised by Image Merchants Promotions Limited.
