Senate probes IOCs over non – remittance of $71.65m, N30.7bn statutory contributions to NDDC

The Senate Friday through its committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), bagan an investigation into alleged failure of some International Oil Companies (IOCs) to remit statutory contributions to the commission as required under the NDDC Act.

Under the law, oil-producing companies operating in the Niger Delta are mandated to remit three percent of their annual operating budgets to the NDDC to fund infrastructure, environmental remediation and other development projects.

The probe was triggered by a petition by an Environmental Activist, Mathew Echo, alleging that Aiteo Exploration and Production Company Limited, now known as Nembe Exploration and Production Company Limited, owes the Commission outstanding statutory remittances totaling $71.65 million and N30.7 billion from 2021 till date.

The company was absent from the investigative hearing despite an invitation by the Senate Committee.

Declaring the hearing open, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, said lawmakers are investigating allegations that Aiteo breached the provisions of Section 2(p) of the Niger Delta Development Commission Act, as amended in 2017, by failing to remit its statutory contributions to the Commission.

Presenting the petition, the petitioner said the persistent non-remittance of statutory contributions by some oil companies has severely weakened the NDDC’s capacity to fulfil its developmental mandate.

He noted that the Commission was established to address decades of environmental degradation and developmental neglect in the Niger Delta, but has been hampered by dwindling statutory funding arising from the non-compliance of several oil companies.

According to him, many IOCs have failed to comply with the law for more than a decade, depriving the Commission of funds needed to execute critical projects across the region.

The petitioner described Aiteo as a habitual defaulter, recalling that the company was reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2021 over outstanding remittances.

Although part of the debt was recovered, he alleged that the company has continued to default, with arrears now standing at $71.65 million and N30.7 billion.

He argued that the continued non-remittance has contributed to unpaid contractors, stalled development projects and delayed environmental remediation in the Niger Delta.

He urged the Senate to investigate not only Aiteo but other defaulting IOCs, and called on the committee to work with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and other regulators to compel compliance, including imposing sanctions on companies that fail to meet their statutory obligations.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, lamented to the committee that recovering statutory remittances from IOCs remains one of the Commission’s biggest challenges.

The Commission according to him, had held several engagements with Aiteo, including meetings at the company’s Lagos office, in an attempt to agree on a repayment plan but the arrangements failed to produce the desired outcome.

“The funding shortfall has affected the execution of projects captured in the Commission’s 2025 and 2026 budgets but NDDC will continue to pursue the recovery of all outstanding remittances,” he assured.

Consequently, members of the committee like Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Ede Dafinone etc, called for tougher enforcement measures against defaulting companies which made the Committee to subsequently resolved to invite Aiteo Exploration and Production Company Limited to appear before it at its next sitting within two weeks and directed the NDDC to submit a comprehensive list of all defaulting companies, including records of previous reconciliation meetings and recovery efforts.