In a sweeping move to curb massive financial losses, the House of Representatives has initiated multiple high-stakes investigations targeting Nigeria's oil sector, multi-billion naira agricultural intervention funds, and thousands of abandoned government properties across the country.
Massive Oil Revenue Leakages Under Scrutiny
An Ad-hoc Committee of the House has vowed to halt the enormous revenue leakages undermining Nigeria's oil and non-oil export sectors. The committee is specifically investigating pre-shipment inspection failures and the non-remittance of crude oil proceeds.
Speaking at a capacity-building workshop for committee members in Abuja, the Chairman, Seyi Sowunmi, revealed that Nigeria's losses amount to billions of dollars, which he equated to "hundreds of hospitals, schools and critical infrastructure denied to citizens."
Sowunmi emphasized that the committee was established in response to mounting evidence of systemic exploitation across the export value chain. He stressed that this probe represents "a national mission, not a witch-hunt."
The workshop aimed to equip lawmakers with technical expertise to interrogate export data, maritime operations, and financial intelligence. Experts in trade compliance, forensic auditing, and international oil transactions are providing guidance to the committee.
Nationwide Audit of Abandoned Federal Properties
Simultaneously, the House has commenced a nationwide audit of over 11,000 abandoned federal government-owned properties, with plans to create a central database and develop strategies to restore value to these idle national assets.
During the inauguration of the Ad-hoc Committee on Abandoned Federal Government Landed Properties in Abuja, the Chairman, Daniel Amos, described the exercise as a critical step toward ending decades of waste, neglect and revenue loss associated with unused public properties.
The House had previously established this ad hoc committee to investigate abandoned federal properties reportedly valued at over N20 trillion. This action followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers).
Amos characterized the assignment as both technical and moral, stating that each abandoned property represents deferred development and a failure of public accountability.
In earlier remarks, Speaker Abbas declared that abandoned public facilities had become glaring symbols of waste and weak governance, vowing that the 10th House would not look away from this critical issue.
Agricultural Funds Mismanagement Investigation
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has intensified its probe into alleged massive diversion and mismanagement of billions of naira allocated to agricultural intervention programmes.
Opening the third public hearing in Abuja, the Committee Chairman, Chike Okafor, stated that lawmakers are examining how key agencies outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture managed funds intended to boost food production and alleviate hunger.
The interventions under scrutiny include:
- The Central Bank of Nigeria's Anchor Borrowers Programme, which reportedly disbursed N1.12 trillion to 4.67 million farmers
- NIRSAL's N255.61 billion support for 915 agribusiness projects
- The Bank of Industry's N59.4 billion financing of agro-processors
- Federal recovery funds for ginger blight control
Okafor revealed that allegations ranging from diversion of funds to ghost beneficiaries, inflated costs, and poor repayment records demand urgent legislative scrutiny and full transparency from all involved institutions.
These concurrent investigations represent one of the most comprehensive legislative efforts in recent times to address systemic financial leakages and mismanagement across multiple sectors of the Nigerian economy.
