The Federal Ministry of Finance has rejected allegations of an unaccounted $12.4 billion shortfall in Nigeria’s external accounts, stating that the sum represents a conventional statistical residual in the country’s balance of payments rather than misappropriated public funds or concealed petroleum revenue.
The clarification was issued by ministry spokesperson Maryann Duke-Okon following public debate generated by the World Bank’s recent Nigeria Development Update, which flagged a $12.4 billion entry under “net errors and omissions” for early 2026.
Responding to the scrutiny, the ministry explained that treating the statistical discrepancy as stolen or missing capital fundamentally misinterprets balance of payments accounting rules. Officials noted that the residual is a standard balancing metric resulting from timing discrepancies between international crude oil export documentation and actual revenue settlement cycles, which routinely take between 30 and 90 days.
The ministry also cited fragmented data collation channels across independent institutions, emphasising that negative statistical residuals appear frequently across both major emerging markets and advanced economies without indicating fraudulent leakage.
Furthermore, treasury officials noted that Nigeria’s gross external reserves grew from $45.5 billion to $53.8 billion over the period in question, which they maintained directly contradicts claims of an unexplained financial drain or hidden deficit.
Addressing demands from opposition platforms seeking financial transparency, the Ministry of Finance confirmed that it is conducting a comprehensive, line-by-line reconciliation with the Central Bank of Nigeria to release a verified audit of the external sector ledger.
