By TrackNews Online Investigative Desk
ABUJA — Fresh findings from corporate records reviewed by TrackNews Online have raised serious questions over the transparency of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s 2025 oil licensing round, with 17 of the 37 awarded oil blocks linked to companies that were either impossible to verify on corporate registries or were incorporated only months before the awards.
The findings also reveal that Pivot-GIS Limited, another winner in the licensing round, is controlled by members of the family of billionaire businessman Dr. Oba Otudeko, founder of Honeywell Group.
The awards were announced on 21 July 2026, about seven months after Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan assumed office as Chief Executive of the NUPRC following the resignation of former commission boss Gbenga Komolafe.
Although the licensing process itself was conducted during Komolafe’s tenure, the final awards were announced under Eyesan’s leadership, raising questions about the due diligence undertaken before the successful bidders were published.
Five Winners With No Verifiable Corporate Records
Corporate searches conducted by TrackNews Online found that five companies named among the winners could not be independently verified through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) public search portal or two other Nigerian corporate lookup platforms examined.
The five companies collectively won eight oil blocks.
Attabanson Global Company Limited
Attabanson Global Company Limited was listed as the winner of Blocks 2A33 and PPL 901.
However, TrackNews could not locate an incorporation record, RC number or registered address for the company in the corporate registries checked.
Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited
Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited was listed as the winner of Blocks 2A47 and 2A55.
No corporate record matching the exact company name was found in the searches conducted.
The closest name identified was Concept-Real Petroleum Services Ltd, RC 1178984, but that is a differently spelled entity and has reportedly been inactive since 2014.
Whether the NUPRC winner was incorporated under another name or whether there is an error in the published winner list remains a question for the commission.
Blackrock Holdings Limited
Blackrock Holdings Limited was listed as the winner of PPL 2A58.
TrackNews could not identify a Nigerian corporate record corresponding to the company.
Corporate lookup searches instead returned foreign entities associated with the name Blackrock in jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
Nikstallis
Nikstallis was listed as the winner of Blocks 2A61 and PPL 900.
No matching Nigerian corporate record was found.
The closest corporate match identified was Nikstalis Nigeria Limited, RC 1033642, a differently spelled company that has reportedly been inactive since 2012.
Eyre Energy Limited
Eyre Energy Limited was listed as the winner of PPL 801.
TrackNews could not locate a Nigerian corporate record for the company in the searches conducted.
The corporate entities identified under the name Eyre Energy were located in jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.
Taken together, these five companies were listed as winners of eight blocks, despite the inability of TrackNews to independently verify their Nigerian corporate existence through the registries checked.
The Newborn Oil Companies
The investigation also identified eight other winning companies that were registered only months or a few years before the 21 July 2026 awards.
Unlike the five companies above, these firms have corporate records and active status in the searches conducted.
However, their relatively short corporate histories raise questions about their technical, financial and operational capacity to participate successfully in a major upstream licensing exercise.
Among them are:
– BVOF Energy Company Limited, RC 9218162 — incorporated on 15 January 2026 and awarded Block 2A43 roughly six months later.
– Gupsco Energy Limited, RC 9271188 — incorporated on 1 February 2026 and awarded Blocks 2A44 and 2A51 about five months later.
– Volonte Oil and Gas Limited, RC 9355215 — incorporated on 20 February 2026 and awarded Block 2A46 roughly five months later.
– Saratoga Oil and Gas Limited, RC 9385151 — incorporated on 3 March 2026 and awarded Block 2A45 about four months later.
– CFP Pipelines and Flowlines Company Limited, RC 8474847 — incorporated on 12 May 2025 and awarded Block 2A30 approximately fourteen months later.
– Southborne Oil and Gas Limited, RC 8298942 — incorporated on 26 February 2025 and awarded PPL 902 approximately seventeen months later.
– Up Energies Limited, RC 8437090 — incorporated on 25 April 2025 and awarded Block 2A56 approximately fifteen months later.
– Nuway Oaklane Energy Limited, RC 7480707 — incorporated on 6 May 2024 and awarded Block 2A49 approximately twenty-six months later.
The findings mean that nine blocks were awarded to companies incorporated between roughly four and twenty-six months before the awards, depending on the exact corporate identity and the date of incorporation.
However, incorporation date alone does not establish that any company was unqualified to bid or receive an oil block. The central unanswered question is whether these companies satisfied NUPRC’s technical, financial and other eligibility requirements.
No Winner Confirmed Inactive — But Name Discrepancies Remain
TrackNews found no winning company that could be conclusively confirmed as inactive on the CAC portal.
The two inactive companies identified during the investigation — Concept-Real Petroleum Services Ltd and Nikstalis Nigeria Limited — do not exactly match the names published for the respective winners.
That distinction is important.
It is therefore not possible to conclude from the corporate searches alone that NUPRC awarded blocks to inactive companies.
Rather, the discrepancies raise a more basic question:
What exact corporate entities did NUPRC evaluate and approve as the successful bidders?
The commission’s underlying bid documentation could settle the matter by providing the companies’ RC numbers, incorporation documents, beneficial ownership information and other due-diligence records.
The Otudeko Family’s Oil Block
Another winner that stands out is Pivot-GIS Limited, which was awarded Block 2A39 with a reported signature bonus of $14.53 million.
Corporate records reviewed by TrackNews indicate that Pivot-GIS Limited, RC 610341, was incorporated on 3 November 2004.
The company is reportedly owned 60 percent by Dr. Oba Otudeko and 40 percent by Mrs. Adebisi Otudeko, who is listed as a person with significant control.
Obafemi Otudeko and Kehinde Bolodeoku are listed as directors.
Otudeko is the founder and chairman of Honeywell Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests including foods and agro-allied businesses, real estate, infrastructure, energy and services.
He has also served as chairman of FBN Holdings Plc, chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange council and as a board member of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Curiously, TrackNews’ search found that the CAC public search portal did not return Pivot-GIS Limited under its exact name, while other corporate lookup sources provided the ownership information.
That discrepancy warrants clarification from the relevant authorities.
What Happened During the 2025 Licensing Round?
The 2025 licensing round offered 50 oil blocks and reportedly attracted 200 bids from 143 companies.
At the commercial bid conference held in Abuja on 21 July 2026, NUPRC announced 31 successful companies for 37 blocks.
Thirteen blocks reportedly received no bids.
But winning a bid does not automatically mean a company becomes a full licence holder.
Under the Petroleum Industry Act, successful bidders must meet the applicable post-award requirements, including payment of signature bonuses and obtaining the required approval from the petroleum minister.
This makes the due-diligence process surrounding the winning bidders particularly important.
Where Are the Beneficial Owners?
One of the most significant questions arising from the findings concerns beneficial ownership disclosure.
The published winner lists do not identify the natural persons ultimately controlling the companies linked to the alleged ghost or newly incorporated entities.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), in its reviews of previous licensing rounds, has raised concerns about gaps surrounding beneficial ownership disclosure.
Its existing beneficial ownership register focuses on companies already holding producing assets, meaning that newly awarded pre-production companies may not necessarily appear in the register.
The issue has become even more significant with the 2026 licensing round, announced on 6 October 2026, in which beneficial ownership disclosure is reportedly mandatory for bidders.
Questions For NUPRC
The findings raise several questions that NUPRC should answer publicly:
1. What are the RC numbers and incorporation documents of all 31 successful bidders?
2. How did NUPRC verify the corporate existence of the five companies TrackNews could not independently locate?
3. Who are the ultimate beneficial owners of the companies concerned?
4. What technical and financial capacity assessments were conducted before the awards?
5. How did companies incorporated only months before the awards satisfy the commission’s qualification requirements?
6. Are Concept-Reel and Concept-Real Petroleum Services the same entity, or are they separate companies?
7. Are Nikstallis and Nikstalis Nigeria Limited the same entity or separate companies?
8. Why do some winning-company names appear difficult to reconcile with publicly accessible corporate records?
9. What due-diligence documents did the commission rely upon before declaring the companies successful?
TrackNews Position
TrackNews Online is not alleging that every newly incorporated company was unlawfully awarded an oil block, nor does the inability to locate a company through a public registry by itself prove fraud or wrongdoing.
However, the combination of unverifiable corporate names, name discrepancies, newly incorporated winners and limited public disclosure of beneficial ownership raises legitimate questions about transparency and due diligence in a licensing exercise involving Nigeria’s strategic petroleum resources.
The public deserves to know who ultimately controls the companies receiving Nigeria’s oil blocks, what financial and technical capacity they demonstrated, and how NUPRC verified their eligibility.
NUPRC and the affected companies should have an opportunity to respond to these findings.
TrackNews Online will continue to follow the paper trail.
