The House of Representatives through its Public Accounts Committee has recovered an additional $14.2 million (N21.4 billion) from four oil and gas companies as part of its ongoing investigation into financial discrepancies in the sector.
This latest recovery follows an earlier announcement on March 16, 2025, of recoveries which amounted to N28.7 billion ($19.24 million), bringing the total sum recovered so far to $33.44 million (N50.1 billion).
The breakdown of the latest recoveries follows thus: Platform Petroleum Ltd: $1.9 million (N2.9 billion), Midwestern Oil and Gas Ltd: $1.578 million (N2.3 billion), Universal Energy: $523,845 (N785.7 million) and Aradel Energy Ltd: $10.3 million (N15.5 billion).
The committee’s chairman, Hon. Bamidele Salam attributed the successes recorded to the unwavering support and leadership of Speaker Abbas Tajudeen.
“Under the leadership of Speaker Abbas, the House of Representatives has reinforced its commitment to fiscal transparency and good governance. The independence granted to committees like ours has enabled us to carry out our mandate diligently, ensuring that public funds are properly accounted for.
“This approach has been instrumental in our ability to recover these substantial sums, and we remain steadfast in our mission to strengthen financial accountability in Nigeria,” Salam stated.
The committee also issued a 20-day ultimatum for four companies to remit a total of $23.2 million (N34.8 billion) failure of which will result in the enforcement of appropriate sanctions, including the public naming of defaulters in national newspapers.
The companies are: Total Energies: $2 million within 7 days; Seplat Energies (SPDC): $6.036 million and N1.5 billion; Aradel Energy Ltd: $12.1 million within and Network Exploration: $3.1 million.
The committee also expressed concern over several companies that have disregarded invitations to appear before it, including Frontier Oil and Gas, Conoil Producing, Walter Smith Petrochemical, Bilton Energia Ltd, Aiteo Petroleum Ltd and Pillar Oil Ltd.
The panel further directed First E&P Oil Company to reconcile an outstanding balance of $90 million with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) appear before the it on April 16, 2025, to finalise the matter.
