The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee has recovered $19,241,109.35 (approximately N28.7 billion) from two oil companies being the firms’ outstanding revenue liabilities to the Federation Account.
The recovery of the debt from the affected companies by the committee was based on its findings from the 2021 Audit Report, which focuses on 45 oil companies that are owing $1.7 billion as outstanding liabilities in their remittance to the Federation Account.
A statement issued on Sunday by the House of Representatives of the recovery, Hon Akin Rotimi, indicated that Chorus Energy Limited settled its outstanding liability with a payment of $847,623 (N1.2bn) on March 11, 2025, and that Seplat Production Development Limited fully discharged its obligation by remitting $18.39 million (N27.6 billion) between March 10 and March 14, this year
The lawmakers stated that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had been provided evidence of these payments for final verification.
The statement further disclosed that Shoreline Natural Resources Ltd had made a $30m payment towards its $100.28m debt before the investigation commenced and has requested a structured repayment plan for the outstanding balance.
Earlier, during the committee’s proceedings, a representative of the NUPRC, Balarabe Haruna, reported that “Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited (formerly Mobil Producing) now holds a credit balance of $211,911.09 for crude oil royalty, $33.01m for gas flare penalties, and $163,046.40 for concession rentals, with no outstanding liabilities.”
Other oil companies listed as having offset their financial obligations include Amalgamated Oil Company Nigeria Ltd, Shell Exploration and Production, and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
The committee, chaired by Hon. Bamidele Salam, commended Seplat Energy for its compliance with its financial obligations, restating its readiness to use all constitutionally-approved measures to recover outstanding debts from the remaining 38 oil companies currently being probed.
In a related development, the committee had recovered N199.3 million out of N6.8 billion debt owed the Federal Government, comprising excessive charges levied between March and October 2015 and unremitted Value Added Tax on transactions processed via the Remita platform from 2015 to 2022.
It would be recalled that the House of Representatives had in 2024 directed the committee to investigate revenue leakages and non-remittance of funds by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through Remita, the public finance payment IT solution, sequel to a motion sponsored by Hon Jeremiah Umaru, which was subsequently referred to the committee.
The House further clarified: “The Federal Government had previously directed value chain providers, including banks, Remita, and the Central Bank of Nigeria to refund one per cent transaction charges collected via Remita between March and October 2015.
“An audit of records from banks and Remita revealed that while N7.62bn had been refunded, an outstanding sum of N1. 98bn remained unpaid. Applying the prevailing Monetary Policy Rate of 27.25 per cent, the accumulated interest on the unpaid sum amounts to N4.84bn, bringing the total refundable amount to N6.83bn”, it added.
The committee confirmed that on March 13, 2025, Guaranty Trust Bank settled N40.6m overdue charges for the period between March and October 2015.
In maintained that further investigations showed the non-remittance of VAT on transactions processed via Remita, even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed a VAT liability of N521.77m for transactions between November 2018 and April 2024.
Following its findings the outstanding liabilities of the affected banks, the committee disclosed that Zenith Bank remitted N126.13 million while Guaranty Trust Bank paid N32.59 million.
Commenting on the initiatives of the committee, the Chairman said: “These recoveries demonstrate the effectiveness of the oversight function of the National Assembly in ensuring accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.
“We will continue to engage with relevant institutions and deploy all necessary legislative tools to recover outstanding debts and prevent revenue leakages. Our objective is to ensure that every kobo due to the Federation is accounted for and remitted accordingly”, Salam added.
