By Olakunle Oke
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has remitted a total of ₦6.215 trillion to the Federation Account between January and September 2025, reaffirming its position as one of the federal government’s major revenue sources.
The disclosure was contained in the Commission’s latest revenue performance report presented at the October meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Abuja. The report detailed cumulative transfers made to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within the nine-month period.
According to the report, NUPRC transferred ₦741.99 billion to the Federation Account in September, achieving 61.59 per cent of its monthly revenue target of ₦1.204 trillion. The figure fell short by ₦462.81 billion (38.41 per cent), largely due to crude oil price volatility and a drop in national output during the month.
When compared to August 2025, total remittance declined slightly by ₦3.22 billion, representing a 0.43 per cent drop from ₦745.20 billion recorded in the previous month.
Despite the shortfall, the regulator’s cumulative performance from January to September stood at ₦7.55 trillion, including pending receivables from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and other upstream operators under Joint Venture (JV) and Production Sharing Contract (PSC) arrangements.
Of the total, ₦758.99 billion came from NNPC’s JV and PSC royalty receivables between January and August 2025, while ₦730.25 billion was generated from Project Gazelle receipts covering November 2024 through mid-2025.
NUPRC noted that cumulative NNPC royalty receivables from October 2022 to August 2025 had reached ₦6.32 trillion, reflecting unremitted obligations still under reconciliation.
The ₦6.2 trillion remitted so far accounts for about 11.4 per cent of Nigeria’s ₦55 trillion national budget for 2025. The funds form a key part of the fiscal base used to finance infrastructure, social program, and economic development projects nationwide.
In 2024, NUPRC recorded a total revenue of ₦12.25 trillion, representing a 282 per cent increase from ₦4.34 trillion in 2023 a reflection of improved royalty collection efficiency and stronger compliance in the upstream oil sector.
The Commission reported recovering $3.39 million in September from outstanding obligations owed by companies under Production Sharing Contract (PSC), Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP), and Marine Crude Allocation (MCA) schemes. However, about $1.476 billion remains uncollected pending final reconciliation between NNPC and the Federation.
Meanwhile, FAAC confirmed receipt of NNPC’s response to the $42.3 billion under-remittance query earlier raised by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). The submission, received is currently under review by an ad-hoc committee.
FAAC also disclosed ongoing scrutiny of NNPC’s utilization of the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF) a provision under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021) meant to boost exploration in frontier oil basins.
