Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has reaffirmed readiness to lead an important meeting of some state governors to address the implications of President Bola Tinubu’s Executive Order 9 (EO9), which has created a funding impasse for oil exploration activities across the country, including in Nasarawa.

this was as the South-South Governors’ Forum (SSGF) backed the order, arguing that it would eliminate opaque deductions.

his part, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Olisa Agbakoba, asserted that Nigeria must end structural contradictions in its oil governance framework by fully privatising the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and reclaiming control of oil revenues slipping through legal and operational loopholes.

Speaking at the V.I.P. Lodge in Akwanga, the headquarters of Akwanga Local Council of the state, during a meeting with the newly elected local council and ward executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from Nasarawa North Senatorial Zone, Sule revealed that his colleagues were relying on his background in the oil and gas sector to navigate the complex situation.

While Tinubu acted in good faith by issuing the order to correct inconsistencies between the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and the Constitution, Sule explained, the directive has inadvertently halted funding for critical frontier exploration.

He, however, maintained that the 30 per cent deduction previously managed by the NNPCL, part of which was utilised for exploration activities in basins across the country (including the Lake Chad Basin, Benue Trough and Nasarawa), would cease under the new order, threatening the progress of oil exploration in the state.

“The President did what the Constitution demands, and we cannot fight that. But there is a lacuna. The danger is that the money for frontier exploration will stop. That means exploration in Nasarawa, Lake Chad and other basins will be affected. Today, those who believe I am in the best position to offer advice are calling on me.

some governors are meeting with me so that we can come up with a solution that protects our interests while respecting the President’s directive,” he stated.

Sule, therefore, stressed that the President intended to ensure that oil revenues meant for the Federation Account were not diverted, but noted that the unintended consequence is a funding gap for exploring new oil wells.

ON February 18, 2026, President Bola Tinubu signed an executive order for the direct remittance of oil and gas revenues to the federation account.

A statement, yesterday, by the SSGF Chairman, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, noted that the governors welcomed the decision as a critical shift towards the restoration of constitutional integrity in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.

The forum said the order would eliminate “opaque deductions” and effectively strip the NNPCL of the “nebulous 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund”.

The governors added that the exploration fund often led to large idle cash balances.

“Mandating all operators and contractors under Production Sharing Contracts to remit Royalty Oil, Tax Oil and Profit Oil directly to the Federation Account will significantly plug revenue leakages,” the statement reads.

“This decision is a positive step towards fiscal justice for sub-nationals, particularly the oil-producing states, just as it would potentially increase available funds for critical infrastructure, healthcare, education and other sectors across the three tiers of government.”

Commending Tinubu’s decision to undertake a comprehensive review of the PIA, the forum described the move as “an affirmation that he is a leader who listens and places the interest of the people above other considerations”.

They added: “The PIA, as it was designed, is a time bomb because the Federal Government cut off states and local councils to deal directly with communities. It is our submission that the percentage due to oil communities that was reduced from 10 per cent, as proposed by the majority of states in the region, to three per cent be revisited and reviewed.

“We also urge the Federal Government to immediately review the aspect where states and local councils were excluded from administering what is due to the communities.”

an interview with Arise News yesterday, Agbakoba argued that although NNPCL was converted into a limited liability company under PIA, it continued to function with the powers and posture of a statutory corporation, creating a legal and fiscal imbalance that undermines transparency and national revenue.

“The NNPC should be privatised, and I can understand that the NNPCL is a registered concern under the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), but it’s at the same time the property of the Federal Government under the Minister of Finance, with the President as the Minister of Petroleum Resources. There’s really a contradiction there,” Agbakoba stated.

He identified what he considers the central fiscal defect in the PIA. “The part that is of concern is that part where NNPCL takes about 70 per cent of the revenue we generate from oil. Section 162 states that money due to the federation must be paid into the federal account. But what has been happening is that NNPC, when it was a statutory corporation, would deduct 70 per cent. And quite rightly, the President has passed the EO9 to say you can’t do that. So that has to go.

So, even as I have a bit of a quarrel with the EO9 because I’m not sure an EO can override an act of parliament. Hopefully, the Attorney General will be good at proceeding to court. Actually, I was looking to him to say what would be best is to go to court to ask the court to expunge the offending parts of the PIA that give PIA access to our funds. Now we’re going to be saving about N45 trillion if that happens.” (The Guardian)

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