Nigeria’s RMAFC Denies Reports of Finalised Decision on Disputed Oil Wells
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has dismissed media reports claiming a final decision has been made to cede specific disputed crude oil and gas wells to certain states, describing the reports as premature and misleading.
In a statement, RMAFC Chairman Dr. Mohammed Shehu clarified that the commission has only received a draft report from the Inter-Agency Committee on the Verification of Coordinates of Disputed Wells. He emphasised that no final recommendations have been concluded or approved.
According to the commission, the draft document, received on February 13, 2026, is currently undergoing mandatory review. It has been forwarded to key technical and statutory bodies, including the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the National Boundary Commission (NBC), and the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, for detailed technical input and observations.
Following these stakeholder reviews, the matter will proceed to the RMAFC’s internal tripartite committees—the Committee on Crude Oil, Gas and Investment and the Legal Matters Committee—for comprehensive technical and legal scrutiny. Their findings will then be presented to the commission’s Plenary Session for deliberation and final recommendations.
Only after this full statutory process is completed will RMAFC’s final report be formally transmitted to the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation for consideration in line with constitutional and legal provisions.
The commission urged the public and media to disregard the circulating speculative report, reaffirming its commitment to a transparent, due-process approach. It called on all stakeholders to await official communication upon the conclusion of the institutional review.
This process follows an initiative launched in late January 2026, where RMAFC began the physical plotting of verified coordinates for disputed and newly drilled wells across affected oil-producing states. At the time, Chairman Shehu stressed that active state participation was critical to ensuring the exercise’s outcomes would be widely accepted, assuring all parties of the commission’s impartiality.
The RMAFC’s statement underscores that the resolution of inter-state oil well disputes remains an ongoing, multi-agency technical exercise, with no definitive allocations determined at this stage. The commission’s final advice will be based solely on completed technical verifications and legal assessments.
