The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered more than ₦115 billion in outstanding statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by oil companies between 2021 and 2023.

An EFCC representative, Francis Oka-Phillips Usani, disclosed this on Wednesday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which is investigating the 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Usani said the EFCC investigated 43 oil companies over unpaid three per cent statutory levies, with 24 firms found to have outstanding liabilities of ₦76.884 billion and $81.077 million. The remaining 19 companies were cleared.

He said some companies subsequently paid ₦6.709 billion and $16.994 million directly to the NDDC following the investigation.

Of the funds recovered by the EFCC, ₦73.373 billion and $67.070 million have been released to the NDDC, while ₦3.510 billion and $14.005 million remain in the commission’s recovery account.

Meanwhile, the Senate committee directed the Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited to appear personally next week after rejecting the company’s attempt to respond to audit queries through an inadequate representation.