The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered $3 million and ₦1.303 billion from Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited and Newcross Exploration & Production Limited over outstanding statutory payments owed to the Federation.
The recovered funds were formally handed over to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Monday, November 10, 2026, by the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, ACE I Bawa Usman Kaltungo.
The recovery followed an investigation launched by the EFCC after receiving a petition from a consulting firm engaged by RMAFC. The petition alleged conspiracy, tax evasion and economic sabotage through the failure of the two companies to remit revenues accruable to the Federation.
Specifically, the companies were accused of failing to remit statutory revenues arising from stamp duties and pipeline transportation fees into the designated accounts of the Federation.
The affected facilities included Escravos, Pennington, Trans-Forcados, Odudu, Amenam and Nembe Creek Trunkline, with the alleged non-remittances resulting in substantial revenue losses between 2010 and 2019.
In response, RMAFC secured 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 investigations, Aiteo and Newcross submitted relevant documents detailing their respective remittances from their operations.
However, a review and analysis of the documents revealed that Aiteo failed to remit $38.43 million, representing 1.5 per cent stamp duty arising from its acquisition of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL).
Similarly, investigations established that Newcross failed to remit $22,841,662.03 in crude oil transportation fees for its use of the Nembe Creek Trunkline, which is operated as a joint venture between the Federal Government and Aiteo.
The two companies subsequently acknowledged their respective liabilities and commenced payments towards settling the outstanding obligations through the EFCC’s recovery accounts domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Further recovery efforts resulted in additional payments between January 28 and August 24, 2026.
During the period, Aiteo paid $1.5 million and ₦750 million into the EFCC recovery account towards settling its outstanding stamp duty obligations.
Newcross, on its part, paid $1.5 million and ₦553.128 million towards settling outstanding pipeline transportation and terminal fees.
The payments brought the total recovery from the two companies to $3 million and ₦1,303,128,000, representing the funds formally handed over to RMAFC.
The recovery is expected to strengthen the Federation’s revenue base and underscores the importance of enforcing statutory payment obligations in the oil and gas sector, particularly in safeguarding public revenue from transactions involving petroleum assets and infrastructure.
