By Obinna Uballa
Nigeria lost an estimated 13.5 million barrels of crude oil valued at $3.3 billion to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has revealed.
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Thursday at the 2025 Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) conference in Lagos, warning that the staggering losses highlight deep-seated governance failures and institutional weaknesses in the oil sector.
“These losses are not just economic, they represent broken trust, institutional weaknesses, and missed opportunities for national progress,” Orji said. “Transparency and accountability are not optional. They are existential.”
Speaking on the conference theme, “Nigeria’s Energy Future: Exploring Opportunities and Addressing Risks for Sustainable Growth,” Orji stressed that Nigeria’s energy destiny will depend not on the size of its oil reserves but on how transparently it manages its resource wealth.
According to him, the $3.3 billion lost to theft could have funded the entire federal health budget for one year or provided energy access to millions of households.
“The era of secrecy in resource governance is over,” Orji declared. “The global transition to cleaner energy demands openness, responsibility, and innovation at every stage of the value chain.”
He reaffirmed NEITI’s commitment to building a transparent extractive industry through data-driven reforms. “Data builds trust, and trust drives investment. Transparency is not a bureaucratic exercise, it is an economic imperative. It attracts capital, technology, and partnerships.”
Citing NEITI’s 2021–2022 Oil and Gas Industry Reports, Orji disclosed that Nigeria earned $23.04 billion in 2021 and $23.05 billion in 2022 from the sector. However, the reports also identified N1.5 trillion in outstanding remittances owed to the Federation by oil companies and government agencies – funds that, if recovered, could boost infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
He noted that NEITI has evolved from being a mere auditing agency to a governance reform institution, tracking production, payments, and compliance across oil, gas, and solid minerals. The agency has also developed Nigeria’s Beneficial Ownership Register, exposing the real owners of over 4,800 extractive assets, and launched a national open-data platform providing real-time public access to industry information.
“We have strengthened partnerships with NUPRC, NMDPRA, and NCDMB to promote transparency in licensing, metering, and host community trust management,” Orji added. “We also introduced the Just Energy Transition and Climate Accountability Framework to ensure that Nigeria’s shift to cleaner energy remains transparent, inclusive, and fair.”
Orji urged the government to embrace innovation as it positions gas as the nation’s transition fuel and renewables as the future.
“Our energy future must rest on verifiable data, open contracts, measurable emissions, and accountable institutions,” he said. “NEITI envisions a sector where every dollar is traceable, every contract is public, and every Nigerian can see how natural resources translate into national prosperity.”
He reaffirmed that NEITI would continue to push for full public disclosure and accountability across the extractive industries. “Every barrel produced, every cubic foot of gas commercialised, and every kobo earned must contribute to national development – in full public view,” Orji concluded.
