In Niamey, behind the closed doors of the Prime Minister’s office, what was meant to be a routine crisis meeting has spiralled into a high-stakes financial confrontation. The revelations from a confidential session on 12 October 2026 expose a tangled web of institutional failures, inflated penalties, and a staggering debt that threatens to engulf Niger’s oil sector.
A closed-door meeting that turned into a fiasco
Convened under the direct authority of Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, the meeting was officially meant to unlock the oil sector and secure fuel supplies for the nation. But behind the scenes, it quickly descended into chaos. A senior official directly involved in the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter, provided a detailed account of the proceedings. His testimony paints a picture of a system on the brink, where financial interests have eclipsed public governance.
SORAZ’s refusal: the breaking point
The first flashpoint was the cost of the committee itself. According to the source, the Zinder Refining Company (SORAZ) was formally ordered to pay 12 million FCFA in session allowances for that single day. But this time, the refinery’s management flatly refused. “It was the ninth such meeting, the third presided over directly by the head of government,” the source explained. “Each time, SORAZ disbursed tens of millions to fund the committee’s lifestyle, without any technical or financial solution ever being provided. The company simply said stop to what now looks like a rent-seeking scheme.”
To ensure the survival of this lucrative arrangement, the committee allegedly inserted a clause in its texts allowing it to arbitrarily extend its mandate beyond twelve months, citing persistent instability in the sector.
The 418 billion FCFA trajectory: from SONIDEP to the Palace
At the heart of the dispute between the state, the Nigerien Oil Products Company (SONIDEP), and SORAZ lies a colossal debt: 418 billion FCFA owed by SONIDEP to the refinery. During the 12 October committee, state representatives were unable to present a contradictory or certified accounting table. “They came empty-handed, citing press clippings instead of providing certified balance sheets,” the witness fumed.
But where did the money go? The informant shed light on the internal breakdown of this financial black hole:
- 12% corresponds to cross-debts with the electricity company NIGELEC;
- 18% represents authorised withdrawals for the benefit of the armed forces;
- 70% would be direct cash outflows from SONIDEP, partly channelled in cash to the Presidential Palace.
Faced with the impossibility of justifying this massive evaporation of liquidity, a strategy to erase the debt was allegedly devised.
The penalty factory: a financial trap for SORAZ
To write off the 418 billion owed to SORAZ, the committee reportedly set about inventing and artificially inflating penalties imposed on the refinery. The source explained the mechanism: over successive meetings, penalties demanded from SORAZ jumped from 6 billion to 76 billion FCFA. But the plan goes much further. The clearing mechanism for cross-debts between the state, SONIDEP, NIGELEC, SORAZ, and Chinese partner CNPC would serve as a pretext to load SORAZ with new record penalties, estimated between 200 and 400 billion FCFA.
“The objective is clear,” the anonymous informant summed up. “Fabricate fictitious debts chargeable to SORAZ to offset the 418 billion claim that SONIDEP cannot repay.”
Technical sabotage and forced production drop
The investigation also reveals that financial tensions have a direct impact on the industrial tool and safety at the Zinder site. While official speeches promised a production rebound to 20,000 barrels per day, actual output has collapsed to around 12,000 barrels. According to the source, this decline is explained by direct manipulation suffered by the refinery: “Algerian operatives, acting on direct instructions from Nigerien authorities, physically intervened on SORAZ’s valves.”
This manoeuvre allegedly caused significant overheating phenomena on the installations, endangering equipment and personnel safety. In this climate of disorganisation, the refinery’s major maintenance operation, initially planned for October, was urgently postponed to next May.
The paradox of shortages: the mystery of 1,000 daily barrels
On the national market, the observation is bitter for the population: fuel is sorely lacking. Yet the figures revealed by the informant show a blatant inconsistency. With production even reduced to 12,000 barrels per day and national consumption estimated at 11,000 barrels per day, the Nigerien market should theoretically generate a surplus of 1,000 daily barrels.
Where does this surplus go? Failures in traceability of volumes leaving Zinder, combined with grey areas surrounding flows from the Algerian corridor and the agreement with the Ader refinery, fuel all uncertainties about the existence of parallel networks.
Contacted for reaction to these accusations and the informant’s statements, neither the Prime Minister’s office nor SONIDEP’s management wished to comment. One thing is certain: behind the fuel pump crisis, the entire governance of Niger’s oil windfall is now trapped in its own contradictions.