House of Reps probes the $460m Abuja CCTV contract funded by Chinese

Thursday, October 23, 2025 - The House of Representatives has begun a probe into the alleged non-repatriation of crude oil export proceeds estimated at over $850 billion.

Also to be investigated by the House is the reported use of harmful chemicals in frozen foods sold in the country and the domiciliation of Green and Renewable Energy Projects with entities that allegedly have no technical capacity or legal mandate to execute them.

Besides, an ad hoc committee was raised by the House to investigate cases of insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), even after about $460 million Chinese loan secured in 2010 was spent by the government.

Chairman of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Pre-Shipment Inspection of Exports and Non-Repatriation of Crude Oil Proceeds, Seyi Sowunmi, announced a probe of the non-repatriation of crude oil export earnings between 1996 and 2014 at a news conference in Abuja yesterday.

The decision to probe the alleged use of harmful chemicals in frozen foods was taken during plenary by the House.

‘’Recent allegations suggest a significant breakdown in compliance by relevant stakeholders. It is alleged that operators in the oil and gas industry failed to repatriate an estimated 40–45 per cent of Nigeria’s crude oil export proceeds, amounting to approximately USD 850 billion between 1996 and 2014 in clear contravention of the law,’’ he said.

Sowunmi added that recent allegations suggest a significant breakdown in compliance with the Pre-shipment Inspection of Exports Act, with operators in the oil and gas sector reportedly failing to repatriate between 40 and 45 per cent of crude export proceeds.

He said the act was contrary to the law, which mandates full repatriation of export earnings within 90 days for oil exports and 180 days for non-oil exports.

Sowunmi also expressed concern over the “worrisome disparity” in export-earnings data reported by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).   He added that there are inconsistencies between Nigerian data and that of international bodies like the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The committee chairman noted that non-oil exports, especially those involving solid minerals and other commodities, have also been marked by “high non-compliant export earnings reports.”

He noted that before the   Pre-shipment Inspection of Exports Act (CAP P26, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004) came into being, the nation suffered   “endemic leakages in the form of under-valuation, delayed invoicing, price manipulation, illegal swaps  and deliberate over-loading.”

The ACT, which was designed to prevent capital flight, ensure accurate export valuation, and safeguard Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, birthed the Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme (NESS).  

The committee, he explained, will probe the exact volume and value of un-repatriated export proceeds from oil, gas, and non-oil sectors since 1996. 

‘’Nigeria must receive, in full and promptly, every dollar legally due from its exports,” Sowunmi said.

The decision to probe the Green and Renewable Energy Projects followed the nod given to the motion by Okey-Joe Onuakalusi.

Presenting the motion titled “The Dire Need to Investigate the Domiciliation of Green Energy Projects with Inappropriate Entities to Avert Substandard Implementation and Loss of Values,” Onuakalusi expressed concern that many of the projects, including solar mini-grids, wind farms, and other renewable energy initiatives, had been domiciled with institutions that have no professional expertise or statutory mandate to deliver them. 

The House Committee on Renewable Energy was consequently directed to find out the level of compliance by the projects’ handlers with due process, technical capacity standards, and statutory mandates.

The House urged the Federal Government, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Procurement, to ensure that future green energy projects were domiciled only with competent, legally mandated, and technically qualified institutions. 

It also called on the Ministry of Power and the Energy Commission of Nigeria to develop a clear framework for inter-agency coordination and delineation of responsibilities in the implementation of renewable energy initiatives.