UPDATED: ‘Komolafe Operates 33 Bank Accounts, Conceals Oil and Gas Assets in Over US$20Bn Revenue Diversion Scandal, Coalition Alleges in Petition That Led to Sack’

Fresh details have emerged from a petition submitted to the Presidency in which a coalition of civil society organisations led by Nigerian People Against Corruption Coalition (NIPACC) alleged that Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, former Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), engaged in financial misconduct.

BIGPEN NIGERIA (https://bigpenngr.com) reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu accepted the resignation of Komolafe and Engineer Farouk Ahmed, former Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), on Wednesday, December 17.

While Farouk Ahmed is facing corruption allegations made by Aliko Dangote, Komolafe has, according to presidency sources and the coalition’s petition, been under scrutiny over alleged fraudulent activities said to run into billions of naira.

Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Buhari to lead the two regulatory agencies created by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Although these claims have not been tested or proven in court as at the time of this report, documents seen by BIGPEN NIGERIA dated February 2025, shows Komolafe has been under investigation by the National Assembly, particularly the Senate Public Account Committee on Special Legislative Inquiry on some of the Oil Mining Licence (OML) and had denied wrongdoing.

According to NIPACC, a series of petitions detailing allegations of multiple frauds said to have been perpetrated under Komolafe’s watch, some of which the coalition links directly to him, were a key factor behind his exit from office.

Sources cited by the group claim that although he publicly resigned as NUPRC boss, this followed internal pressures and negotiations within the presidency, which, they allege, afforded him a “soft landing”.

Following his departure, the Nigerian People Against Corruption Coalition (NIPACC), in an open letter to the new NUPRC chief executive, Mrs. Orisemeyiwa Eyesan, urged her to “clean up the Augean stables” of what it describes as the rot left behind by her predecessor.

The coalition called for a thorough investigation into the activities of Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, including allegations of corruption, asset manipulation and revenue concealment, warning that failure to address these issues could, in its view, tarnish the new leadership.

NIPACC maintains that Engr. Komolafe’s tenure was characterised by several questionable transactions, including the alleged concealment of lucrative oil and gas assets, and has asked the relevant authorities to probe these claims.

According to NIPACC, Engr. Komolafe’s tenure was marked by alleged several questionable transactions, including the concealment of lucrative oil and gas assets, fraudulent manipulation of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 227, and the illegal reduction of OMLs 33, 46, and 74.

NIPACC, a coalition of Civil Society and Pressure groups including; Integrity and Economic Probity For Transparency Initiative (INTERCEPT), Association of Media Practitioners in Oil and Gas Producing Areas (AMEPROGAS), Arewa Youth Alliance for Progress and Development (AYAPD), Niger Delta Development Agenda (NDDA), and Niger Delta Liberators and Ex-Agitators Forum (NIDLEF), claimed that their petition to the presidency led to the supposed “sack or resignation” of the former NUPRC boss.

“Our petition painstakingly exposed disturbing patterns of corruption, asset manipulation, regulatory abuse, and revenue concealment within the NUPRC under the leadership of Engr. Gbenga Komolafe.

“We wish to commend the Presidency for listening to our prayers for the sack and probe of Engr Gbenga Komolafe”, it claimed.

Giving further details on what it describes as the systemic subversion of strategic oil assets in NUPRC under Komolafe’s watch, NIPACC, in a strongly worded letter signed by its convener and chairman, Iteveh Nur’deen, and secretary, C.N. Onyishi Esq., alleged that the most troubling issue it presented to security agencies and the presidency was the deliberate subversion and concealment of lucrative producing oil and gas assets, particularly OMLs 119, 129, 113, and 31, as well as OPLs 2005 and 2006.

According to the petition, these assets, which NIPACC claims are known to be producing crude oil and gas, were officially misrepresented by the NUPRC under Engr. Komolafe as non existent or non producing, for reasons the coalition says were neither technically sound nor economically defensible.

NIPACC further contends that, by what it describes as this act of concealment and misclassification, the Nigerian state may have been denied estimated revenues in excess of US$20 billion, encompassing crude oil sales, gas monetisation, royalties, taxes and other statutory payments. The coalition insists this was not a mere regulatory oversight but a deliberate failure which it wants investigated by the relevant authorities.

Referring to the letter addressed to the President, NIPACC wrote; “Your Excellency, another grave issue uncovered relates to Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 227, which officially covers an area of 974 square kilometres. Records and official correspondence authored under Engr. Komolafe repeatedly claimed that OPL 227 had been converted to Oil Mining Lease (OML) 146, allegedly covering a drastically reduced area of 29.95 square kilometres.

“This claim, by all objective standards, constitutes a clear case of fraud and misrepresentation. OPL 227 and OML 146 are governed by two distinct agreements, yet they were improperly conflated to justify the unexplained disappearance of 944.05 square kilometres of petroleum-bearing acreage.

“The fundamental question remains unanswered: How did 974 square kilometres legitimately shrink to 29.95 square kilometres? No lawful conversion process under Nigerian petroleum laws supports such a drastic reduction. This anomaly strongly suggests that the balance of the acreage was illegally disposed of or allocated, with proceeds accruing to unauthorized private interests rather than to the Federation.

“When this fraud was formally highlighted to Engr. Komolafe investigations revealed a hasty and suspicious attempt to alter records by changing OPL 227 to OPL 277, an action that further reinforced concerns of deliberate document manipulation aimed at concealing wrongdoing.

“Similar manipulative practices were identified in relation to OMLs 33, 46, and 74, which originally covered a combined area of 2,740 square kilometres.

“Under the tenure of Engr. Komolafe, these leases were unlawfully reduced to 2,493.62 square kilometres, leaving 246.38 square kilometres concealed and unaccounted for.Independent assessments indicate that this concealed acreage alone could have been sold for over US$5 billion, while associated crude oil and gas production from the area could have generated revenues estimated in excess of US$10 billion for the Federation.

“Instead, these enormous resources were diverted from public benefit, undermining national development and exacerbating Nigeria’s economic vulnerabilities.Illicit Operations of Sterling Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO).

“The actions of NIPACC is an exercise of civic responsibility and patriotic vigilance. At significant personal and institutional risk, the organization demonstrated courage and commitment by bringing to light entrenched malpractices that undermined national interest, weakened public trust in regulatory institutions, and deprived the Federation of monumental revenues at a time when Nigeria faced severe fiscal constraints”.

“The several manipulations of the NUPRC under Komolafe directly facilitated the emergence and operation of Sterling Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) as an illicit beneficiary of Nigeria’s petroleum resources. Investigations revealed that SEEPCO has been drilling and producing crude oil and gas from over 48 oil wells while the NUPRC officially reported only about eight oil wells to the Federation”.

According to the coalition’s petition, “this alleged underreporting resulted in significant revenue leakages and distorted national production data”. NIPACC further claims that SEEPCO operates over 5,000 bank accounts across various Nigerian banks, allegedly to facilitate the laundering of proceeds from what it describes as illegitimate oil and gas operations. The coalition argues that such a scale of financial opacity “could not have thrived without regulatory complicity or willful negligence” and has called for a thorough investigation by the relevant authorities.

The coalition also alleges that Engr. Komolafe owns and operates 33 bank accounts, many of which are said to be linked to his Bank Verification Number (BVN), and that he failed to declare these assets in his Code of Conduct forms.

“Further investigations by NIPACC,” the petition states, “uncovered deeply troubling details regarding the personal financial activities of Engr. Gbenga Komolafe. The coalition claims that he owns, controls, or operates thirty three (33) bank accounts, comprising 15 private accounts and 18 corporate accounts, many of which it says have his Bank Verification Number (BVN) directly linked to them.”

NIPACC claims; “these accounts, 24 are current accounts, eight are savings accounts, and one remains of unknown classification. While four accounts are closed, eight are dormant, and four are marked Post-No-Debit (PND), an alarming 17 accounts remain actively operational.

According to the coalition; “Certified True Copies obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) show that Engr. Komolafe is neither a director nor a shareholder in several of the companies whose bank accounts are linked to his BVN. Despite this, his BVN appears in their banking documentation, effectively making him a signatory and beneficiary of these accounts. Even more concerning is the revelation that neither these corporate interests nor the private accounts were declared in his Code of Conduct forms, in clear violation of constitutional and statutory requirements.

NIPACC claims that these actions resulted in the loss of over $200 billion in revenue and called on the presidency to act decisively to prevent further corruption.

They, however, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for taking the bold step to clean up the system, saying “We commend the President’s decision to act decisively, rather than ignore or trivialize these petitions. This underscores his leadership philosophy—that no individual, regardless of position, is above the law, and that national interest must always supersede personal or sectional considerations”.

The coalition has offered to work with the new NUPRC leadership to enhance transparency and prevent future irregularities and congratulated her on her new job role.

“We write with profound respect, a deep sense of patriotism, and unwavering confidence in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s avowed commitment to transparency, accountability, and institutional reform, and to formally appreciate and commend Your Excellency for the recent appointment of Mrs. Oristemeyiwa Eyesan as the new Commission Chief Executive (CCE) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

“This appointment has been widely received across the oil and gas industry, civil society space, and among stakeholders in the Nigerian economy as a timely, strategic, and courageous decision. It reflects not Tinubu’s administration’s resolve to sanitize critical national institutions, but also your recognition of competence, integrity, professionalism, and inclusive leadership—qualities urgently required to reposition the upstream petroleum sector as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economic recovery and sustainable development.

The coalition, however, urged Eyesan-led NUPRC leadership to institutionalize structured cooperation with NIPACC and other credible civil society organizations (CSOs), maintaining that such collaboration will enhance transparency, improve early detection of irregularities, and foster public confidence in the Commission’s operations.

“Mrs Eyesan cannot afford to build on corruption, hence her first action in office is to sanitize the rot of the erstwhile administration. Proactive engagement with CSOs will also help prevent the escalation of grievances into civil demonstrations, legal confrontations, or other disruptive actions, thereby preserving industrial harmony and national stability.

“We reiterate our warm congratulations to Ms. Eyesan on her well-deserved appointment. Her distinguished history of hard work, technical competence, and personal integrity in the oil and gas sector stands as a testament to her suitability for this critical role.

“”Her deep understanding of the industry, combined with her reputation for professionalism and ethical conduct, positions her to revitalize the NUPRC, rebuild institutional credibility, and align regulatory practices with global best standards. Furthermore, her roots in the oil-producing Niger Delta region provide her with unique insight into the socio-economic realities of host communities, enhancing her capacity to balance national revenue objectives with equity, sustainability, and peace in the region”.

Right of Reply:

BIGPEN NIGERIA has since obtained a response dated October 23rd, 2025, in which Engr. Gbenga Komolafe replied to one of the petitions referenced in this report. In the document, he addressed to the National Coordinator of Coalition of Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisation for Development (COCSOD), while he was still in office; he categorically denies the allegations of fraud, concealment of assets and revenue diversion, money laundering describing them as unfounded and malicious.

He further stated: “As the Chief Executive of the Commission, I wish to state unequivocally that the allegations contained in your correspondence are unfounded, misleading and inconsistent with verifiable records of the Commission. The NUPRC operates a transparent regulatory framework guided strictly by the provisions of the PIA 2021, and remains fully accountable to the Federal Government and the Nigerian people”.

Editor’s Note:

This report has been re edited to reflect an earlier response by Engr. Gbenga Komolafe to allegations raised against him by the civil society organisations, led by NIPACC, and to uphold our editorial policy, which requires that every investigative report undergo a rigorous verification process.