Senate Seeks Answers on Nigeria’s Petrol Import Figures

A Senate committee is seeking answers after the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) presented different petrol-import figures for 2022 and 2023. The Senate Committee on Public Accounts rejected NMDPRA’s explanation at a hearing on October 21 and resolved to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) for a joint reconciliation, according to Premium Times.

How far apart are the reported figures?

At the hearing, NMDPRA said its records showed 3.29 billion litres of imports in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres in 2023. NNPCL’s figures cited at the hearing were 6.27 billion litres for 2022 and 3.88 billion litres for 2023.

That is a gap of 2.98 billion litres in 2022 and 2.14 billion litres in 2023. The direction also reverses: NNPCL’s figure is higher for 2022, while NMDPRA’s is higher for 2023. These are calculations from the figures reported at the hearing, not a finding about which agency’s total is correct.

Why the committee wants a joint review

The figures echo a concern already raised in NEITI’s 2022–2023 Oil and Gas Industry Audit. The audit records the differences between the two organisations and recommends independent checks of imported quantities and landing costs, along with better tracking and reporting. Its report does not settle which agency’s numbers are right.

NEITI’s final report gives NNPCL totals of 6.30 billion litres in 2022 and 3.90 billion in 2023—slightly different from the 6.27 billion and 3.88 billion cited at the hearing. The NMDPRA figures are 3.29 billion and 6.02 billion in both records. That small mismatch between published versions makes the source trail part of the story: the committee needs to identify which underlying records and calculations each total uses.

What can a reconciliation reveal?

NEITI’s audit recommends continuous independent audits of imported quantities and landing costs at the point of discharge. It also calls for near-real-time tracking and says fuel discharged should not automatically be treated as fuel consumed. The Senate’s review could therefore clarify more than which annual total is accepted: it can establish what each agency counted, at what stage, and whether the totals use the same definitions. NEITI also says a separate government-commissioned audit was examining price differentials to verify NNPCL’s claims; the import-volume discrepancy alone does not establish that any claim was wrong.

Can these figures show a Tinubu-era trend?

Only partly. The 2022 figures predate President Bola Tinubu’s time in office. He assumed office on May 29, 2023, so the 2023 total covers months before and after that date. These two annual comparisons cannot show whether petrol imports rose or fell throughout his presidency. That would require a consistent series covering later years, with the same definition and a clear monthly breakdown for 2023.

What the figures do—and do not—tell Nigerians

Import volumes matter for oversight of petroleum supply and public records. But the figures discussed at the hearing are historical import records, not a direct measure of how much petrol Nigerian motorists used or a forecast of pump prices. The key issue now is whether the agencies can show how each total was compiled and reconcile the difference.

For background on the separate question of why import permits continue alongside domestic refining, see CrispNG’s report on the latest petrol-import approvals.

Sources

• Premium Times: Senate panel summons NMDPRA, NNPC and NEITI (October 21, 2026)
• Punch: Petrol imports—Senate rejects NMDPRA figures (October 21, 2026)
• NEITI 2022–2023 Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report (see the audit’s importation findings and recommendations)
• State House: President Tinubu’s official biography and date of assumption of office

The committee has called for a reconciliation, not announced a finding about the cause. The next meaningful update is whether the agencies publish the underlying records and explain how they made the totals comparable.