Economy
Senate Uncovers N10tr Fraud in NNPC
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An alleged fraud of about N10 trillion in the oil and gas sector has been unearthed by the Joint Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream, Upstream) and Gas.
According to the committee, the alleged fraud was perpetrated by officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in connivance with some independent marketers and other key players in the petroleum industry between 2006 and 2016.
To get to the root of this mess, the committee said it would carry out a holistic investigation of the fraud with a view to bringing perpetrators to book, having secured the strong support of President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the Senate.
Addressing newsmen at the weekend in Abuja, the committee said available records before it showed that during the period under investigation, NNPC imported fuel that was more than 40 percent of the local consumption besides the perceived gross underutilisation of 445,000 barrels it allegedly received for local refining and local consumption on yearly basis.
At the briefing, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Mr Kabiru Marafa, noted that N5.2 trillion of the entire sum was traceable to NNPC which he said was collected by the corporation as subsidy from the Federal Government for the importation of petroleum products, notably between 2006 and 2016.
He said the amount excluded monies realisable from the 445,000 barrels of crude oil allocated to it annually for production in the nation’s refineries for local consumption.
According to him, NNPC, being the custodian of crude oil resources of the nation, responsible for 51 percent of petroleum products’ importation into the country over the years, aside the 445,000 crude allocation it gives itself on a yearly basis for sales for local refining, must account for the N5.2trillion.
“Available records show that it has spent on subsidy on its own, 51 percent of petroleum products importation between 2006 and 2016 aside the N3.8 trillion spent on similar subsidy for independent marketers and about $1.5 billion yet to be accounted for by other key players in the industry,” Mr Marafa said.
The lawmaker stated further that the committee had discovered how oil marketers fraudulently evacuated petroleum products from storage leased by NNPC without any sense of accountability, pointing out that at least 100 million litres of petrol worth N14 billion had been stolen by two different oil companies without any sanction imposed on them by the NNPC.
He, therefore, ordered the NNPC to sanction the affected companies this week or face huge embarrassment following the expose.
“This committee has established the missing of 100 million litres of PMS from such storage arrangement.
“We expected NNPC to have taken action against the two companies that carried out the theft but since it has not, we hereby order it to do so immediately, precisely within this week, failure of which we shall make the whole details known to the public,” he threatened.
Mr Marafa also threatened that all the key players in the sector along with their collaborators who had taken the country for a ride during the period under review must be brought to book, explaining that the fraud was largely perpetrated during the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and partly during the current administration of Buhari.
“President Buhari is highly supportive of this move by the Senate and we shall not fail in carrying out the needed holistic investigation on obvious sharp practices in the sector. Needed documents for the onerous task are already in our possession,” he said.
Against this background, he said a three-day public hearing would soon be conducted by the committee as he listed those expected at the hearing to include: present and past executives of NNPC, independent marketers, heads of Licenced Inspection Agency, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service, and NIMASA, among others.
The lawmaker said that the whistle blower approach being adopted by the executive to unravel fraudulent practices of corrupt public officials would also be used to fish out those involved in the oil sector’s massive fraud.
He said the committee would ensure that strict sanctions were imposed on players in the sector who might attempt to frustrate the investigation by failing to co-operate with the committee during its investigation.
Additional information from ThisDay.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
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