EFCC hands over recovered $3m, N1.3bn unremitted revenue to RMAFC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has handed over the sums of $300 million and N1,303,128,000.00 recovered from Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited and Newcross Exploration & Production Limited to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC.

The recovered funds, which form part of the liabilities established against the two companies for unremitted statutory payments to the Federation, were handed over by the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, ACE I Bawa Usman Kaltungo.

The recovery followed an investigation by the EFCC after it received a petition from a consulting firm engaged by RMAFC, alleging conspiracy, tax evasion and economic sabotage resulting in revenue losses to the Federation.

The petitioner alleged that revenues accruable to the Federation in respect of stamp duty and pipeline transportation fees were not remitted into the designated accounts of the Federation.

The affected facilities included Escravos, Pennington, Trans-Forcados, Odudu, Amenam and Nembe Creek Trunkline.

The alleged non-remittance of the revenues reportedly resulted in substantial losses to the Federation between 2010 and 2019.

In response to the development, RMAFC obtained a presidential fiat dated December 20, 2021, authorising it to recover all outstanding revenues due to the Federation from the affected public and private entities.

Following the commencement of investigation by the EFCC, Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited and Newcross Exploration & Production Limited submitted relevant documents detailing their remittances in respect of their respective operations.

However, a review and analysis of the documents established that Aiteo failed to remit the sum of $38,430,000.00 (Thirty-Eight Million, Four Hundred and Thirty Thousand United States Dollars), being 1.5 per cent stamp duty arising from its acquisition of Oil Mining Lease (OML 29) and Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL).

Also, investigation revealed that Newcross Exploration & Production Limited failed to remit $22,841,662.03 (Twenty-Two Million, Eight Hundred and Forty-one Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty-two United States Dollars, Three Cents) as crude oil transportation fees for the use of Nembe Creek Trunkline, which is operated as a joint venture between the Federal Government and Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited.

The two companies subsequently accepted their respective liabilities and commenced payments towards the settlement of the outstanding obligations through the EFCC’s recovery accounts domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Further investigation and recovery efforts resulted in additional payments between January 28, 2026, and August 24, 2026.

During the period, Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited paid $1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) and N750,000,000.00 (Seven Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) into the EFCC recovery account in respect of unremitted stamp duty.

Newcross Exploration & Production Limited paid $1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) and N553,128,000.00 (Five Hundred and Fifty-Three Million, One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Thousand Naira) as outstanding pipeline and terminal fees.

Consequently, the total recovery from the two companies stood at $3,000,000.00 and ₦1,303,128,000.00, which were handed over to RMAFC during the brief ceremony.