The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) disclosed on Wednesday that Nigeria has raked in revenue of $741.5 billion from the oil and gas sector and N635.3 billion from the solid minerals sector over a span of 21 years, spanning from 1999 to 2020.
The announcement came during a stakeholders’ roundtable convened by NEITI in Abuja, where the 2021 Audit Reports for the oil, gas, and solid minerals sectors were reviewed and approved.
NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, highlighted the organization’s extensive efforts in conducting 13 cycles of reconciliatory reports in the oil and gas sector, along with 11 cycles of reports in the solid minerals sector.
Intriguingly, the audit reports also brought to light a distressing fact that Nigeria suffered significant losses due to crude oil theft and sabotage.
The country saw over 619.7 million barrels of crude oil vanish, valued at a staggering $46.16 billion or N16.25 trillion between 2009 and 2020. This alarming figure averages to a loss of over 140,000 barrels of crude daily, amounting to $10.7 million daily.
The NEITI reports also delved into the controversial issue of subsidy payments, spanning from 2005 to 2021, and the adverse impact it has had on the nation’s economy.
Orji stated that Nigeria expended a substantial sum of $74.39 billion, equivalent to N13.7 trillion, which averaged around N805.7 billion annually, N67.1 billion monthly, or N2.2 billion daily.
Discussing the specifics of the 2021 NEITI Industry Reports, Orji indicated that they encompassed a comprehensive analysis of 69 companies and 12 government agencies for the oil, gas, and mining industries. Notably, the solid minerals sector report included a broad range of data from 1,214 companies and three government agencies.
NEITI’s primary objectives behind these reports were to ascertain the quantity of minerals produced and utilized in the nation, unveil revenue contributions from oil, gas, and mining companies, and track the actual inflow of such revenues into government coffers.
The reports also aimed at identifying government investments in these sectors, monitoring subsidy payments, as well as company remittances and liabilities.
