Fresh controversy has erupted over Nigeria’s multi billion-naira oil pipeline surveillance programme after Niger Delta leader Asari-Dokubo alleged that interests connected to the Olu of Warri and businessman Osahon Okunbo receive about ₦2.7 trillion annually for pipeline protection.
Dokubo, who made the explosive allegations in a video circulating online, also defended Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, saying the former militant leader receives considerably less under his own pipeline surveillance arrangement.
The ₦2.7 trillion figure has not been independently verified, and Dokubo did not provide contract documents, payment records or other documentary evidence to substantiate the amount in the video.
His intervention nevertheless reopens questions over the cost, beneficiaries and transparency of the Federal Government and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s use of private contractors to protect the country’s sprawling oil infrastructure.
“You are talking about Tompolo. What of the Olu of Warri and Osahon, son of Captain Osa, who are collecting N2.7 trillion annually for guarding pipelines?” Dokubo said.
“They are collecting N2.7 trillion a year. You are calling Tompolo, who is collecting less. I’m not in that contract.”
Reports on the remarks identify the businessman referred to by Dokubo as Osahon Okunbo, an executive of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, PINL. Okunbo is a son of the late businessman and philanthropist, Captain Hosa Okunbo.
₦2.7tn claim raises questions
The sheer size of Dokubo’s figure makes the allegation particularly significant.
At ₦2.7 trillion annually, the expenditure would amount to about ₦225 billion every month.
But publicly available information on pipeline surveillance expenditure does not presently establish payments on that scale to the people Dokubo named.
When the current generation of surveillance arrangements attracted national attention in 2022, NNPC said it contracted corporate entities to protect pipeline rights of way, rather than awarding contracts directly to individual former militants.
Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, which is associated with Tompolo, was reported to have received a contract worth about ₦4 billion monthly, or approximately ₦48 billion annually. The operation covers parts of Delta, Ondo, Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The difference is striking.
Dokubo’s alleged ₦2.7 trillion annual figure would be more than 56 times the widely reported ₦48 billion annual value of the Tantita contract.
There is another reason the allegation requires scrutiny.
NNPC’s financial records previously showed that the national oil company spent about ₦267.98 billion on security-related pipeline costs over a 16-month period. The figure averaged roughly ₦16 billion monthly.
That does not, by itself, disprove Dokubo’s claim because contracts and expenditure could have changed subsequently. It does, however, underscore the need for NNPC to clarify the current values and structure of its surveillance arrangements.
The controversy comes at a time when NNPC’s finances and pipeline protection spending are already under renewed scrutiny. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar recently called for greater disclosure after questioning billions and trillions of naira contained in NNPC accounts as receivables and expenditure connected with the Federation and asset protection. Available accounts do not clearly show how much of those sums represents payments to individual pipeline surveillance contractors.
Who holds the contracts?
The pipeline surveillance system has been controversial almost from its inception.
Reports dating back to 2022 identified Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Maton Engineering Nigeria Limited and Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited as companies involved in the surveillance arrangement.
Tantita is associated with Tompolo.
PINL has, meanwhile, repeatedly been associated in public debate with the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, although representatives of the Itsekiri have previously disputed claims that the monarch owns the company.
In 2022, Edema Oritsetimeyin of the Itsekiri Consultative Congress said the Olu of Warri was neither a registered director nor shareholder of PINL. He also rejected reports at the time about the geographical reach and alleged ₦138 billion annual value of the company’s contract.
More recent reports have nevertheless continued to describe the monarch as having an interest in a company involved in the surveillance arrangement. A 2025 investigation by Sunday PUNCH reported that tensions among Niger Delta leaders were partly linked to contracts involving Tantita and a company in which the Olu was said to have an interest.
The conflicting accounts underline one of the central problems surrounding the programme: the full ownership structures, contract values, geographical responsibilities and payment arrangements are not readily transparent to the public.
Previous ₦2.7tn claim disputed
Dokubo’s allegation is also not entirely new.
A group involved in the controversy had earlier rejected a similar allegation attributed to him that the Olu of Warri and PINL were connected to an annual surveillance contract exceeding ₦2.7 trillion.
The group described the claim as unverified and without credible evidence.
In the latest video, however, Dokubo again raised the figure while arguing that Tompolo was being subjected to disproportionate criticism.
He insisted that he personally has no stake in the current arrangement.
His comments mark a notable turn in his public exchanges over the contracts. Dokubo has previously criticised Tompolo over pipeline protection arrangements and accused him of monopolising opportunities that should benefit wider Niger Delta interests.
In 2025, he alleged that a $144 million coastal protection contract awarded during the Goodluck Jonathan administration had been intended to involve several Niger Delta leaders but was ultimately controlled by Tompolo.
Dokubo brings Arthur Eze into controversy
Dokubo also referred to billionaire businessman Arthur Eze while arguing that pipeline contracts covering Niger Delta territory should benefit people from the oil-producing region.
He suggested that when such contracts go to businessmen from outside the Niger Delta, the proceeds become private wealth rather than money circulating within the region.
“When Arthur Eze takes that contract, it is not Niger Delta money; it is Arthur Eze’s money,” he said.
The available material reviewed for this report does not establish that Eze currently holds the specific pipeline surveillance contract at the centre of Dokubo’s ₦2.7 trillion allegation.
Dokubo’s comments should therefore not be interpreted as proof of a current contract involving Eze without documentary confirmation.
Orji Kalu dragged into row
Dokubo also brought former Abia State governor and serving senator Orji Uzor Kalu into the controversy.
He claimed to have recently seen vessels bearing the initials “OUK” operating in Nigerian waters and interpreted the letters as a reference to Kalu.
“Yesterday, I saw a vessel. On it was written ‘OUK’, Orji Uzor Kalu, operating in our waters,” he said.
No registration documents, photographs, International Maritime Organization identification numbers or corporate ownership records were presented in the material reviewed to establish that the vessels belonged to Kalu.
The presence of the initials “OUK” on a vessel would also not, on its own, establish legal or beneficial ownership.
READ ALSO: N’Delta Groups Kick Against Plan To Split Pipeline Surveillance Contracts
The allegation therefore remains unverified.
Pipeline security under spotlight
The latest dispute comes against the backdrop of years of controversy over Nigeria’s decision to supplement conventional security agencies with private contractors and community-based surveillance networks in the battle against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
NNPC has defended the model.
Former NNPC chief executive Mele Kyari said in 2022 that private contractors were necessary because securing pipeline rights of way required access and local knowledge that the company itself did not possess. He said contractors had been selected through a tender process.
Supporters of the surveillance programme argue that the approach has contributed to improvements in crude production and reduced vandalism.
In 2026, more than 300 federal lawmakers backed the continued engagement of Tantita following a National Assembly roundtable examining pipeline security. Data presented during the proceedings indicated improved crude production and reductions in pipeline vandalism since the company’s engagement, although attributing all production improvements to any single contractor would be difficult because military operations and other industry measures are also involved.
Critics have focused instead on procurement, concentration of contracts, cost and transparency.
The controversy has reached the courts. In April 2026, an FCT High Court declined an ex parte application seeking to halt the renewal and restructuring of surveillance contracts involving Tantita, PINL and other firms, instead ordering accelerated hearing of the substantive case.
Dokubo’s latest allegations could now increase pressure on NNPC and the Federal Government to disclose exactly how much Nigeria currently spends on private pipeline surveillance, the companies receiving the contracts, their beneficial ownership, the geographical areas allocated to each contractor and the measurable performance attached to each payment.
Neither the ₦2.7 trillion figure nor Dokubo’s allegation concerning the vessels allegedly linked to Kalu has been independently established by the material reviewed for this report.
As of the time of filing this report, no response to the latest allegations had been found from the Olu of Warri, Okunbo, Kalu or NNPC.
For now, therefore, the most consequential part of Dokubo’s intervention may be the question behind the allegations: exactly how much is Nigeria paying private interests each year to protect its oil pipelines, and who ultimately receives the money?