The National Assembly has thrown its weight behind Tompolo’s Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, endorsing its role in tackling crude oil theft and safeguarding Nigeria’s oil infrastructure.
ENigeria Newspaper gathered this endorsement during a one-day parliamentary roundtable on pipeline security, where lawmakers passed a vote of confidence in both Tantita and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), citing improved production levels and enhanced protection of oil assets.
Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Midstream), Henry Okojie, said the surveillance framework had delivered measurable results, noting that Nigeria’s crude oil output has climbed to about 1.8 million barrels per day as of April 2026, up from roughly 900,000 barrels per day in 2022 before the contract was introduced.
The joint committee also dismissed three petitions filed against the surveillance contract after the petitioners failed to appear before lawmakers to defend their claims.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, while addressing the session, stressed the strategic importance of securing Nigeria’s oil assets amid global uncertainties.
“Despite the ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the protracted conflict involving Russia and Ukraine, the need for valiant efforts at finding alternative energy sources has become necessary, adding that crude oil still remains the largest source of primary energy in the world, especially the transport sector where it still powers 95 per cent of all vehicles, planes and ships.
“The current crises, particularly with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have resulted in price surges and supply shortages, with consequential impact on the nation’s economic survival, saying ‘as a nation, we must rise to the challenge, and this roundtable is a clear indication that the National Assembly is ready to lead the way.”
Providing context, the Speaker linked Nigeria’s long-standing pipeline security challenges to unrest in the Niger Delta, where oil exploration has fueled both economic gains and environmental grievances.
“The discovery of petroleum has both earned us massive foreign exchange and resulted in environmental degradation and despair. As a result, the Niger Delta has witnessed profound agitations over the years, which often resulted in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, and illegal refining activities.
“Desperate communities and weak enforcement structures created a climate of instability in the oil sector with staggering consequences.
“At some point, Nigeria was losing billions of dollars annually as between 10 to 30 per cent of crude oil production was lost to theft, undermining national revenue and questioning our capacity to remain a reliable oil producer.”
He noted that the Federal Government’s decision to engage private surveillance operators like Tantita, alongside security agencies and host communities, has helped reverse the trend.
“The synergy of private surveillance providers, security agencies, and community engagement led to remarkable improvements in our daily production quotas.
“Recent reports indicate that most of the illegal tapping points have been dismantled, production levels have improved significantly, and oil receipts are approaching near-total delivery to export terminals, compared to the alarming losses of previous years when production sometimes plummeted to about 700 barrels per day.
“Today, largely due to these surveillance/security efforts, we have been able to ramp up production to about 1.8 million barrels per day.
“Importantly, the surveillance contract has been able to create direct employment for thousands of Niger Delta youths who were formerly agitators, providing a legitimate alternative to crime, and placing security back in the hands of the people who host the facilities.”
Despite the gains, lawmakers acknowledged that challenges around accountability and transparency remain, with crude oil theft still persisting in some areas.
The National Assembly also reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening oversight through existing legal frameworks, including provisions under the Petroleum Industry Act, to sustain improvements in the sector.
