Secrets Reporters
In a tale that smells of foul play beneath the sweet aroma of government contracts, JRB Oil & Gas Limited, a company registered for the sale and distribution of petroleum products, appears to have spread its tentacles far beyond the oil fields — dipping its hands into sectors as wide-ranging as education, agriculture, and rural electrification.
Registered on November 29, 2012, with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under registration number 1081349, JRB Oil & Gas Limited was incorporated in Abuja with its office located at Suite A1 & B1, Mazada Plaza, Plot 874, Shettima Mungono Crescent, Utako District. The company lists Kazeem Badamosi, Jelili Badamosi Rauf, Badamosi Alimi Rauf, and Badamosi Jimoh Rauf as its directors.
Ordinarily, such a company would be expected to stick to its lane — dealing in petrol, diesel, and related products. But findings by SecretsReporters suggest otherwise. Documents obtained by the investigative platform show that JRB Oil & Gas Limited has, over time, received a cocktail of contracts from multiple federal agencies for jobs far removed from its area of registration.
We gathered that on February 1, 2022, for instance, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) wired a hefty ₦21,123,955.45 to the company “to carry out land clearing for mechanized farming in Ibil, Cross River State.”
Barely a month later, on March 10, 2022, the National Productivity Centre joined the payment train, transferring ₦19,684,528.51 to the same company. The purpose? “Payment of the remaining 45% job sum fee for the supply of motorcycles (180cc) for empowerment of youths in 13 wards of Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State.”
As if that was not enough, just nine days later, on March 19, 2022, the National directorate of employment once again wired ₦14,252,766.27 to JRB Oil & Gas Limited for another round of “land clearing for mechanized farming in Ibil, Cross River State.” The company, it appears, was ploughing deep into the soil of federal contracts.
The following week, the National Rural Electrification Agency (NREA) entered the mix. On March 21, 2022, the agency transferred ₦10,630,074.60 to the same firm for the “supply and installation of solar-powered street lights at Oyigbo Local Government Area of Eleme/Oyigbo/Tai Federal Constituency, Rivers State.”
But the story does not end there. Digging deeper, SecretsReporters uncovered earlier transactions from 2021 involving the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Commission. On April 6, 2021, the UBE paid ₦7,380,880.44 to JRB Oil & Gas Limited for the “supply of laptops with software for Itolo Girls Junior and Senior Secondary School, Surulere, Lagos State.”
Astonishingly, just two days later, on April 8, 2021, another ₦7,380,880.44 was paid for the same contract description. Whether this was a duplication or a second batch of deliveries remains unclear. What is clear, however, is that a company licensed to trade petroleum somehow found its way into supplying laptops to schools.
In total, the company received over ₦80 million from different government agencies for contracts spanning agriculture, education, electrification, and youth empowerment — none of which fall under the business scope stated in its CAC registration.
Experts say such practices not only undermine efficiency but also fuel corruption and compromise project quality — as firms lacking technical capacity often subcontract jobs, inflate costs, or abandon projects entirely.
While it remains uncertain how JRB Oil & Gas Limited managed to secure contracts across unrelated sectors, one thing is clear — in Nigeria’s contracting ecosystem, some firms seem to have mastered the art of being everything to everyone. Whether it’s clearing land, supplying motorcycles, installing solar lights, or delivering laptops, JRB Oil & Gas appears to have rewritten the book on diversification — or perhaps, the rulebook itself.