Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest producers of crude oil and most of its exploration takes place in the south of the country. In a post shared on It claims that Nigeria has slipped down the list of global oil producers due to the power struggle. However, the claims are false: Officials called the post “made-up propaganda,” while data shows oil production increased — an impossible scenario if the companies had closed, as experts note.
“The power of a state governor. While Nyesom Wike collaborated with the court in Abuja to stop the River State allocations. In return, Governor Sim Fubara of River State shuts down NNPC and all oil companies in Rivers State, declares no allocation for Rivers State and no oil for Nigeria (sick),” wrote an X user on October 31, 2024.
The post was shared over 600 times and also claims that Nigeria has fallen from 4th to 24th in the global oil production rankings within minutes of the alleged order.
Screenshot of fake post taken on November 14, 2024
The claim also appeared on Facebook here and here.
Power struggle
Siminalayi Fubara was elected governor of oil-rich Rivers State in March 2023. He succeeded Nyesom Wike, a lawyer who has now been appointed by President Bola Tinubu as minister in charge of the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Shortly after his inauguration, Wike and Fubara became embroiled in a struggle for control of the state (archived here).
The battle resulted in a failed impeachment attempt and a dispute between state lawmakers who charged Fubara with violating constitutional requirements by submitting the annual budget to a four-member legislature instead of a fully constituted parliament (archived here).
A judge at the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in favor of the lawmakers and ordered that the state’s accounts be frozen and allocations to the state be withheld (archived here).
The verdict is on appeal (archived here).
‘Invented propaganda’
Rivers state government denied closure of oil company facilities (archived here).
“The report was not only false, but fabricated propaganda from the imagination of its author and enemies of the state,” said a statement signed by Joseph Johnson, the state commissioner for information and communications, and sent to Nigerian media.
“We, therefore, urge the people of Rivers and well-meaning Nigerians to set aside the bogus and bogus report as Governor Fubara has at no time considered and/or issued such an unnecessary order to shut down the economy for any reason assigned.”
Nelson Chukwudi, the chief press secretary to the Rivers State governor, also told AFP Fact Check that oil companies were carrying out their operations without disruption.
The evidence for this lies in the data.
Higher crude oil production
Nigeria is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an association of oil exporting countries that ensures stable prices and supply in the global crude oil market.
OPEC publishes a monthly report on the oil market. The November edition contains data on the amount of crude oil produced by OPEC member states and partners in October 2024.
Nigeria produced an average of 1.33 million barrels of crude oil daily in October 2024, according to OPEC.
Screenshot of daily crude oil production by OPEC members in October 2024
This is an increase of 9,000 barrels from the 1.32 million barrels produced in September 2024.
Adewale Dosunmu, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Port Harcourt in the Rivers State capital, said increasing production would not be possible if oil exploration facilities were closed.
“Rivers State is a major hub for oil exploration activities in Nigeria. A disruption would have had a negative impact on Nigerian oil production in October. It would also have made global news as there are many international oil companies operating in Rivers State, including Chevron, Shell and domestic oil companies such as Oando and Seplat,” he told AFP Fact Check.
False ranking
The claim that Nigeria ranked fourth in global oil production and subsequently fell to 24th is also incorrect.
U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows that average daily production of the world’s ten largest crude oil producers ranged from 21.9 million barrels per day to 2.9 million barrels per day in 2023 (archived here).
According to OPEC data, Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production was 1.3 million barrels per day – far less than that of the world’s top 10 producers.
OPEC has a declaration of cooperation with 22 countries, including 12 member states, to regulate the supply of crude oil to the global market.
Other oil-producing countries, including the US, Canada, Brazil and Angola, are not part of the agreement.
Based on October production figures, Nigeria was the eighth largest crude oil producer among OPEC members and partner countries.
Table showing crude oil production of OPEC members and partners. Source: OPEC
This is slightly higher compared to September, when Nigeria ranked ninth.
