Nigeria's finance ministry refutes $12.4 bn missing money claim, cites data gaps
Nigeria’s Finance Ministry says the $12.4 bn gap flagged by the World Bank is a statistical residual, not evidence of lost oil revenues, after opposition lawmakers demanded disclosure.
The Nigerian Finance Ministry dismissed claims that $12.4 bn of oil revenue has vanished, describing the amount as a balance-of-payments residual used to reconcile divergent transaction data. The World Bank’s October 2026 Nigeria Development Update flagged the gap, suggesting it may partly reflect oil export proceeds not yet repatriated, but did not quantify the share. Opposition African Democratic Congress spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi called on President Bola Tinubu to publish details of oil-backed loans and current net reserves.
The ministry attributed the discrepancy to informal remittance flows, unrecorded cross-border trade, delayed payments for oil cargoes and legal offshore holdings, noting that informal channels move about $10 bn annually. It also cited record inflows through formal money-transfer operators and a recent $4.5 bn refinancing of the Project Gazelle facility. Despite the residual, Nigeria posted a $12 bn current-account surplus and foreign reserves rose to $55.25 bn by September, the highest since 2008. Officials pledged to work with the Central Bank and other agencies to improve external transaction recording.
Why it matters
The explanation affects confidence in Nigeria’s fiscal transparency and its ability to manage oil revenues.
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