Feature/OPED
Towards the Depoliticising of Forensic Audit on NDDC
By Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe
The Niger Delta people will, for a long time, remain wholeheartedly grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for the immense goodwill he has shown to the good people of the oil-rich but a beleaguered region, through the various projects and programmes aimed at the total development and emancipation of the Niger Delta region.
We must acknowledge the concerted effort towards the completion of the East-West highway, the reintroduction of the Petroleum Industry Bill (P.I.B) to the National Assembly, the construction of the national headquarters of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in the heart of the Niger Delta region, the monumental Bonny-Bodo road project, as well as the move to reposition the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) through the institution of a forensic audit of the commission, just to mention but a few of the projects and programmes which has definitely put the region on the spotlight and assures that the region is on a steady path of growth and development as well as liberation from the clutches of entrenched stagnation and backwardness which has kept the region utterly underdeveloped and abandoned, over the decades.
While we are grateful for this effort, we emphasise that there is still a vacuum and a yearning, to do more for further development of the Niger Delta region.
Certainly, when the recap of events that made news in 2020 is done, one of the stories that will easily come to mind is the much-publicised probe of the NDDC by the National Assembly and for sure, a lot of people will love it, not just because it is a sordid and seamy commentary on the Niger Delta struggle, but mainly because recent events have exposed, albeit inadvertently, that whole exercise for what people have always termed it; a terrible, terrible entertainment.
The very sight of the Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei losing his breath before the glaring cameras of national and international television should, ordinarily evoke solemnity and somewhat of sadness at the near loss of life, in the course of dedication to national service but this will be reduced further down the slope of horrific spectacles when the cardinal issues that gave rise to that probe, which includes the forensic audit ordered by President Buhari on NDDC, is discovered to have been highly politicized, and designed to be poorly executed, by high calibre politicians, seeking with a highway exit ramp out of the impending expository series which the forensic audit is sure to kickstart.
Needless to say, even party chieftains from both sides of the frontline political divides in the country sought to nail the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, rather than live to see the exercise succeed.
Many a group who stood in the gap, intent and determined to brave the odds to ensure that NDDC does not fail in the mandate given to it as a creation of law, to salvage the Niger Delta from environmental degradation and entrench a developmental ideology, will be at a loss and in utter consternation at the sudden twist of fate.
It is sad that the NDDC, which some civil society and advocacy groups of goodwill fought to defend and liberate from the jackals and hyenas, has become a prisoner of sorts, to what looms the selfish interest of a selected few.
It does appear that the collective heritage of the entire Niger Delta region, comprising nine states (Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers) have become the estate of not just the National Assembly members (especially principal officers and members of National Assembly Joint Committee on NDDC), but also of the NDDC management and senior staff as well as the Ministry of Niger Affairs!
The sordid tales of the rape of the Niger Delta has dominated the National discourse, this year, 2020 and has sadly not taken even a casualty, because the dramatis personae of this tragicomedy have insisted on a political solution, rather than a humanitarian approach to the issues raised, whereby the people of Niger Delta will have a breath a fresh and for once in a long time, benefit from their Natural endowment, which is the oil at their backyard. It is so sad to note that in December 2020, the budget details for the 2020 budget of the NDDC has neither been approved by the National Assembly nor released to the commission. What this means is that the Commission is technically grounded and unable to function effectively or even meet up with its expectations to the Niger Deltans.
As though that is not enough setback, to a beleaguered people, reports have it that the much talked about the forensic audit on the account of NDDC, from inception till date, is gradually becoming a reality, that paucity of funds has been programmed to frustrate the development of the region under Buhari, through the non-release of the 2020 budget details of the NDDC by the National Assembly.
The target could be to ensure that the commission engages in extra-budgetary spending, or rather, unbudgeted expenditure, so as to have a reason to nail the forensic audit report and make it stillborn.
This is because the key perpetrators of these shenanigans have concocted allegations against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs saying that he is clearly being browbeaten into shielding his friends and associates, as well as cronies and fellow party men from being exposed by the audit, through the careful removal of files containing their shady deals and bloated cum unexecuted but fully paid projects, from the records of the commission, thus making it impossible for the forensic auditors to unmask the pillagers and looters for who they truly are. On the other hand, they expect that he should kill, completely, the whole idea of a forensic audit.
It will be a profanity of the anti-corruption stance which Mr President professes if this onslaught by people obviously determined to thwart the goodwill of Africa’s celebrated anti-corruption crusader towards the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
Those bent on frustrating the efforts of the Minister for the sake of hijacking the treasury of the commission to feather their nests towards the 2023 elections had succeeded in crippling the activities of the last interim management committee, under Prof Daniel K. Pondei while plotting a careful takeover of the affairs of the commission through a list of surrogates as members of the substantive board of directors, albeit illegal and skewed.
It may not be common knowledge for those who are ignorant of the behind-the-scene happenings at the commission that for over four months, the NDDC has had its accounts frozen and a lien placed on the said accounts, deliberately forcing the oil and gas companies to pay their statutory 3% and 5% commission into a special account named EFCC/NDDC instead of the NDDC account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
While the yearly federal allocation dropped from N80 billion to N45 billion and exhausted within five months on payment of contractors, foreign scholarships amongst others; the commission became cash-strapped as a highly placed principal officer of the Nigerian Senate in active connivance with the longest-serving member of staff of the commission, wrote petitions to the EFCC and ICPC, forcing the anti-corruption agencies to move against the IMC.
In a rather unfortunate twist, instead of commencing investigations while allowing the commission to function, the EFCC has simply halted payment of contractors
Thus, there is an urgent need to address this impasse before it snowballs into a national embarrassment as the ex-agitators in the region have begun threats to stall the flow of oil through the pipelines. The damage to the economy cannot be imagined if the situation is not nipped in the bud.
Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe is the President of Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative, Abuja
By Nafisat Damisa
Introduction
The proliferation of generative AI has transformed Nigeria’s cybercrime landscape, enabling deepfake fraud, automated social engineering, and AI-enhanced phishing at scale. In early 2024, scammers using AI-generated deepfake videos impersonating a company’s CFO defrauded a Hong Kong finance worker of $25.6 million. As similar threats emerge in Nigeria’s fintech sector, this article examines whether the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 (as amended 2024) is legally adequate, or whether Nigeria’s evidentiary and accountability frameworks are too weak to support effective prosecution of AI-driven cybercrime
Current Legal Landscape
Nigeria’s primary legal framework on preventing cybercrime is the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, amended in 2024 to address cryptocurrency transactions, cyberbullying and various forms of digital misconduct. Complementary frameworks include the National Information Technology Development Agency Act 2007, the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023, and sectoral regulations such as the CBN’s Risk-Based Cybersecurity Framework. However, the majority of these frameworks were issued far before now, and emerging risks like AI-driven threats are not really being addressed. The Act nowhere mentions “artificial intelligence,” “algorithm,” or “autonomous system.” Notably, the National Artificial Intelligence Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2025, is currently pending before the Senate. If passed, it would establish a dedicated commission to coordinate AI strategy, research, and ethical deployment. However, the Bill in its present form focuses primarily on development and innovation promotion, with limited provisions on criminal liability, evidence handling, or enforcement against AI-facilitated cybercrime, leaving the core accountability and evidentiary gaps largely unaddressed.
AI as a Double-Edged Sword
AI paradoxically enables both defence and attack. Nigerian financial institutions deploy AI for real-time fraud detection and pattern recognition. Conversely, cybercriminals exploit generative AI for deepfake creation, automated credential stuffing, and convincing phishing tailored to Nigerian English and Pidgin. The same technology that powers fraud detection systems can be weaponised to evade them. Take justice delivery as an example, the Evidence Act 2011 (as amended 2023) admits computer-generated evidence under Section 84, but remains silent on AI’s capacity to seamlessly generate or alter electronic records, creating “doctored AI-generated evidence”. These and many more issues await Nigeria’s digital space in the coming years.
The Legal Gaps
There are multiple critical gaps that undermine AI governance. For this article, three are considered. First, no framework attributes criminal liability when an autonomous AI commits an offence. The question of whether the developer, user, or owner should bear criminal responsibility for the acts of an autonomous system remains entirely unanswered under Nigerian law, leaving prosecutors without a clear legal theory of culpability.
Second, Section 84 of the Evidence Act 2011 governs computer-generated evidence but does not address AI-generated outputs. The Act’s definition of “computer” excludes AI’s cognitive processing capabilities, creating a statutory blind spot where evidence produced by generative or autonomous systems falls outside the existing admissibility framework.
Third, Nigeria lacks any framework for mandatory AI-generated content labelling, impeding deepfake traceability. Computer-generated evidence under Section 84 of the Evidence Act 2011 remains admissible if unchallenged at trial, a dangerous precedent for AI evidence, as opposing parties may lack the technical capacity to mount any challenge at all.
Comparative Jurisdictions: Rich Laws, Tangible Results
Jurisdictions with advanced AI laws demonstrate clear outcomes. The EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) mandates transparency obligations, requiring synthetic content labelling and informing individuals when interacting with AI systems; non-compliance triggers significant penalties. The US Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2023 is a proposed Act that will require impact assessments for high-risk AI systems in housing, credit, and employment, with FTC enforcement and a public repository. China implemented mandatory measures for the Identification of AI-generated (Synthetic) content. These rules, mandated by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and others, require explicit (visible labels) and implicit (watermarks/metadata) identification for all AI-generated text, images, audio, video, and virtual scenes to ensure transparency, traceability, and combat disinformation. These laws contribute to measurable results: forensic traceability, expedited prosecution of deepfake fraud, and clear liability chains. Nigeria has none of these.
Hope or Illusion?
Without legislative intervention, AI’s promise against cybercrime remains an illusion. Nigeria requires the following to boost its hope:
- Amendment of the Cybercrimes Act to include AI-specific offences and mandatory content provenance standards;
- Revision of Section 84 of the Evidence Act 2011 to address AI-generated evidence credibility, not merely admissibility;
- Investment in digital forensic capabilities is currently hampered by inadequate enforcement, weak forensic capabilities, and a lack of specialised personnel; and
- A risk-based framework drawing from EU and US models.
- Review of both secondary and tertiary education curricula to address the knowledge gap in AI and prepare the next generation for the AI-driven future.
Conclusion
AI can help curb cybercrime in Nigeria, but only if legal capacity catches up with technical capability. The Cybercrimes Act 2024 amendments were a step forward, but they did not address AI accountability, algorithmic transparency, or evidentiary credibility. The pending National Artificial Intelligence Commission Bill, 2025, signals legislative awareness, but without substantive provisions on liability, evidence, and enforcement, it cannot fill the existing gaps. The effectiveness of existing frameworks remains a question. An optimistic but cautious path exists, but until Nigeria enacts AI-specific legislation, whether through amending the Cybercrimes Act, revising the Evidence Act, or strengthening the pending Bill, weak laws will remain unable to support strong technology.
Nafisat Damisa is a Legal Research Associate in Olives and Candles – Legal Practitioners. For further information, enquiries, or clarification, please contact Nafisat via: [email protected] or [email protected]
By Isah Kamisu Madachi
As of April 30, 2026, the crude price is said to have reached $125 in the global market. The all-time high price per barrel was recorded in 2008, when it surged to $147. It is obvious that the price is heading in that direction or even towards what experts have predicted — crude reaching a new all-time high of $150 in the near future if crude passages remain closed in the Middle East, which would ultimately come with several disproportionate challenges for businesses and households.
In Nigeria, what began as a mild adjustment in the price of gasoline and other refined crude products has not stopped anywhere until it reached N1,400 per litre of petrol at filling stations. When the price was surging, experts in energy, economics, marketing, business and other relevant fields tried to come up with explanations for how Nigeria, despite housing the largest petrochemicals refinery in Africa and being one of the largest oil-exporting countries on the continent, would continue to absorb this shock.
Despite our advantages, Nigeria recorded the world’s second-highest surge in petrol prices following the escalating geopolitical tension in the Middle East. In Africa, Nigeria has the highest spike, with many sources citing it at 39.5% and above. Even non-oil-producing countries in Africa, and countries that do not refine a drop of oil, did not experience this surge. Also, African countries like South Africa at 1%, Morocco at 2.1%, and Tanzania at 2.7% experienced far smaller increases that are nowhere near Nigeria’s.
To put it in context, South Korea, Japan, and China are among the foremost dependents on the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure escalated the crude price, but none of these countries has recorded even a 20% increase in their petrol prices. Nigeria does not import its crude through the Strait of Hormuz. Yet, as an oil-exporting nation, we have suffered some of the sharpest petrol price increases in Africa.
What went wrong in Nigeria to warrant this surge is not the primary focus of this piece. What lies ahead is. As a result of the increase in petrol prices, Nigerians have been disproportionately affected. Life has become unbearably difficult, with sharp increases in transportation costs, rising food prices, and higher costs of goods and services. Even charging points that used to collect N150 for charging a phone or battery now charge N300 or more.
As it stands, the gap between the current crude price and the predicted new all-time high is about $25. This means that if the passages continue to remain closed, we are not far from another historic price peak. It is even said that reopening the passages may not immediately stabilise prices, as crude tankers would still take time to reach their destinations.
What this means for Nigeria is another sharp increase in refined petroleum product prices, which could trigger another wave of stagflation. Already struggling, Nigerians do not deserve this. They are only just adapting to the post-subsidy era, yet are being hit again by another round of global geopolitical tensions. Many are already in deep energy poverty, with businesses struggling due to unstable electricity supply.
Therefore, as crude oil prices hover above $125 per barrel and threaten to reach the predicted $150 if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist, Nigeria must act decisively to shield its citizens. The Dangote Refinery exists. Nigeria refines oil. What the federal government owes Nigerians at this point is a deliberate policy decision to make that the refinery serve domestic needs first, with pricing that does not mirror whatever is happening in the global market. That is not complicated; other oil-producing countries do exactly this.
The NMDPRA has the authority to act on this. The question is whether there is a political will to act before another price wave hits and Nigerians are once again left to absorb what their counterparts elsewhere never have to.
Sub-national governments also have something to do. Commercial motorcyclists and small business owners are the people who feel every petrol price increase the hardest and the fastest. Pushing CNG and LPG adoption among this group beyond the FCT and Lagos, with genuine support, would cushion a significant part of the next shock. Expanding solar access in underserved communities would do the same. A shop owner running on solar is not at the mercy of the next diesel price spike.
These solutions are quite feasible. Nigeria has attempted versions of them before. Where we often seem to get it wrong is in execution, and Nigeria has to treat this with the same urgency and seriousness as given to elections, for the well-being of its citizens. The only thing that has never matched the problem is the seriousness of the response.
Isah Kamisu Madachi is a policy analyst and development practitioner. He writes via [email protected]
By Gbolahan Oluyemi
In 2025, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) directed all Licensed Pension Fund Operators (LPFOs) to demand a Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC) from service providers before engaging their services. This new policy typically affects various types of entities, including small and medium-scale enterprises, most of which are not usually compliance-driven. Following this directive, the PCC has become an essential compliance document for both large, medium and small-scale firms. This article provides a guide on what a PCC is, why it matters, and how it can be obtained.
What is a Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC)?
A Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC) is an official document issued by PenCom confirming that an organisation has complied with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act. It is an annual document that must be renewed every year at no cost. The yearly renewal is intended to ensure that organisations treat compliance as a continuous activity rather than a one-off act.
Why is a PCC Important?
The PCC is important because it demonstrates that an organisation is compliant with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, especially as it relates to employee pension contributions under Section 4 (1) of the Pension Reform Act and subscription to group life insurance under Section 4 (5) of the Pension Reform Act. It is also required for certain transactions, such as government contracts and engagements with compliance-sensitive partners. In essence, a PCC assures investors, partners, and clients that your business is properly structured and compliant with regulatory requirements.
Who Needs a Pension Clearance Certificate?
Under Nigerian law, companies with three or more employees are required to participate in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). If your organisation employs at least three staff members and provides or intends to provide services to Licensed Pension Fund Operators (LPFOs) or other regulated entities, you are expected to obtain a PCC annually.
How Do I Obtain a PCC?
PenCom issues the PCC electronically and at no cost through its web portal: https://pcc.pencom.gov.ng/. Please note that Applicants who are just beginning compliance and remitting employees’ pensions are required to first obtain an employer code from a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA). This code is necessary to initiate the PCC application on the PenCom portal.
Upon logging into the portal, you will be required to complete your company profile by providing your date of incorporation, contact details, and website (if applicable), as well as uploading your CAC documents.
Next, you will upload an Excel schedule (using the template provided on the website) containing your employee list. After this, you will be required to upload Excel sheets detailing pension contributions. You will also need to upload your organisation’s group life insurance documentation and payment instrument.
Finally, you will review your application and submit it for further processing by PenCom. Before commencing an application, ensure you have the following:
- Certificate of Incorporation (CAC documents)
- Group Life Insurance Policy for employees
- Evidence of Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) registration for employees
- Three years’ proof of monthly pension remittances, including penalties for any defaults (where applicable). For companies less than three years old, provide proof of remittances from the date of incorporation
- A valid Tax Identification Number (TIN)
- An employee schedule showing staff details and contributions (usually in Excel format) Templates are available on the PenCom portal
Also note that for the portal to accept employee details and remittance records, employees must have completed their data capture with their respective Pension Fund Administrator and updated their records to reflect their current employer.
Conclusion
Obtaining a Pension Clearance Certificate in Nigeria may seem technical at first, but once proper processes are established, it becomes routine. The key is consistency in remittance, maintenance of accurate records and prioritisation of compliance in overall operations.
For many Nigerian businesses, the PCC is more than a regulatory requirement; it is a mark of credibility. In a competitive environment, that credibility can make all the difference.
Gbolahan Oluyemi is a Legal Practitioner and currently leads Olives and Candles – Legal Practitioners. For further information, enquiries, or clarification, please contact Gbolahan via: [email protected] or [email protected]
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