Tinubu’s oil revenue reform takes off, direct remittance begins

The Federal Government has commenced the implementation of Executive Order 09 on Oil and Gas Revenues, aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding funds accruing to the Federation.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday, announcing the inauguration of the Executive Order Implementation Committee on February 26, 2026.

According to him, the meeting was convened in line with Executive Order 9 of 2026, issued by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to protect federal revenues and enhance the management of petroleum revenue flows.

Edun stated that the committee reaffirmed the President’s directive that all revenues accruing to the Federation from petroleum operations must be handled in accordance with constitutional provisions to ensure fiscal stability for the federal, state and local governments.

As part of the immediate measures, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) will cease the collection of the 30 per cent management fee and the 30 per cent frontier exploration fund deductions from profit oil and profit gas under Production Sharing Contracts.

The statement also announced the suspension of remittances of gas flare penalties into the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), with immediate effect, in line with the Executive Order.

On the provision requiring contractors to make direct payments into the Federation Account, the committee agreed that implementation must respect existing contractual and financing arrangements to maintain investor confidence. A defined transition period was therefore approved to operationalise direct remittance of profit oil, royalty oil and tax oil into the Federation Account.

Until detailed guidelines are issued, contractors will continue to remit revenues under the existing process.

To ensure a smooth transition, the committee approved the establishment of a Technical Subcommittee tasked with developing comprehensive guidelines within three weeks and commencing a review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to address structural and fiscal gaps affecting Federation revenues.

The Technical Subcommittee will be led by the Special Adviser to the President on Energy and will include the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, the Chairman of the Forum of Commissioners of Finance, representatives of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), with the Budget Office of the Federation serving as secretariat.