Oil Sector: RMAFC Panel Recommends State of Emergency, Forensic Audit, Derivation Revenue Adjustments Alleges underreporting after 1,000-well verification, wants probe Proposes boundary review, possible amendments to Petroleum Industry Act C’River to return as littoral state Wale Igbintade
A high-level inter-agency committee set up by the Revenue Mobilisation
Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has recommended that the federal government declare a state of emergency in Nigeria’s oil and
gas sector, order a forensic audit of crude oil production dating back to 2004, and enforce sweeping revenue adjustments among oil-producing
states following the verification of more than 1,000 oil and gas wells across the Niger Delta. The recommendations are
contained in the January 2026 report of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) on the verification of crude oil and gas well coordinates
of disputed and newly drilled fields between 2017 and December 2025. Continued on page 8
Tuesday 17 February, 2026 Vol 31. No 11272. Price: N400
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Amupitan Warns Staff Not to Fail at Duty, INEC Hires 1,132 Vehicles for FCT Election
Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
L-R: Founder and CEO, Flutterwave, Mr. Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola (OON); former President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma; and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu at a recent innovation night, hosted by Flutterwave at The Delborough Lagos.
Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has Continued on page 8
EFCC Detains El-Rufai as DSS Files Cybercrime Charges
Atiku accuses FG of persecuting ex-Kaduna gov Protesters storm Kaduna Assembly, demand update on probe of El-Rufai’s administration
Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh, Alex Enumah in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna Former Kaduna State Governor and chieftain of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, has been detained by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja, contrary to insinuations by some of his associates that he has been released. Highly competent sources at the anti-corruption agency told THISDAY last night that El-Rufai “has a lot to answer for” and would most likely remain and spend some time with interrogators. According to sources close to the interrogation, the scale of interrogation may require a court ordered remand of the former governor to give the agency more time to build a water-tight case against him. Continued on page 8
WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER...
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umar Bago (right) introducing Kwara State Governor/NGF Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (middle) to members of the Niger State Security Council shortly before a closed-door meeting on new areas of collaboration to tackle banditry and terrorism along their borders...in Minna, Niger State capital, … yesterday