The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over what it described as “failure to account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged missing N825bn and $2.5bn meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation’ and other oil revenues.”
This was according to a statement by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, on Sunday.
The suit followed allegations documented in the 2021 audited report by the Auditor-General of the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu, which was published on November 27, 2024.
Recall that last week, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said that NNPCL refineries may never work again, despite the $18 billion spent on the refineries.
In the suit number FHC/L/MISC/722/25 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel the NNPCL to account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged missing N825 billion and USD$2.5 billion of public funds meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation’ and repair.”
SERAP is also asking the court to “direct and compel the NNPCL to recover and remit to the federation account the alleged missing N825 billion and USD$2.5 billion of public funds meant for refinery rehabilitation and repair.
“Direct and compel the NNPCL to identify those responsible for the missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to appropriate anticorruption agencies for investigation and prosecution.”
In the suit, SERAP also argued that “the grim allegations by the Auditor-General (and Mr Aliko Dangote) suggest a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anticorruption laws, and the country’s international human rights and anticorruption obligations.
“Granting the reliefs sought would strike a blow against the impunity of those responsible for the missing oil money meant to repair the country’s refineries and ensure that the money is returned for the sake of NNPCL’s victims—Nigerians. These grim allegations have also undermined the economic development of the country, trapped the majority of Nigerians in poverty, and contributed to high levels of deficit spending by the government.
“The vast majority of Nigerians have seen little benefit from their country’s oil wealth, even as the NNPCL continues to fail to account for the missing billions of dollars that are desperately needed to repair or replace the country’s dysfunctional refineries. The Auditor-General has, for many years, documented reports of the disappearance of public funds from the NNPCL. Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of these missing public funds meant for refinery rehabilitation.”
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms Oluwakemi Oni, and Ms Valentina Adegoke, further partly read, “The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL’s accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold transparency and accountability principles. According to the recently published 2021 audited report by the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) failed to account for over N825 billion and USD$2.5 billion of public funds meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation’ and repairs, and other oil revenues.
“The Auditor-General fears that the money may be missing. The NNPCL reportedly failed to account for over N82 billion [N82,951,595,510.47] meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation and repairs.’ The money was deducted from the sale of Crude Oil and Gas between 2020 and 2021’. He wants the money recovered and remitted to the Federation Account. He also wants the NNPCL ‘to ensure that the amounts due for the Federation Account are not subjected to any deductions before remittance of net.
“The NNPCL also reportedly failed to account for over N343 billion (N343,642,598,726.51) ‘being proceeds from domestic crude sales.’ The ‘money, meant for ‘pipelines maintenance and management costs, was unilaterally deducted from the gross domestic crude sales.’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury. He also wants the NNPCL to hand over those suspected to be involved to the EFCC and ICPC.
“The NNPCL also reportedly failed to account for over N83 billion (N83,659,813,739.99) ‘being miscellaneous income from the NNPC joint venture operations from 2016 to 2020.’ The ‘money was withdrawn from the CBN/NNPC sinking fund account [a suspense account].’ The Auditor-General is concerned that this practice has led the Federation to resort to borrowings.’ He wants ‘the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.’”
The suit added that, “The NNPCL also reportedly failed to account for over N204 billion (N204,853,744,047.39) ‘being unjustified deductions from the oil royalties for 2021.’ The ‘money was due to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) now Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).’ The Auditor-General fears ‘the money may have been diverted.’ He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.”
“The NNPCL also reportedly failed to account for over N3.7 billion (N3,748,581,281.27) ‘being money purportedly paid to a Company as a shortfall on sales of MT cargo of PMS.’ The Auditor-General fears the money may be missing. He wants the money recovered and remitted to the treasury.
“The NNPCL also reportedly failed to account for over N28 billion (N28,654,179,867.00) ‘being outstanding bridging allowance from NNPC retail for 2021.’ The NNPCL failed to account for over N13.5 billion (N13,5559,658,148.91) ‘being outstanding bridging allowance claims from three major oil marketers in 2021.
“The Auditor-General is concerned that this ‘may have resulted in difficulty in funding the 2021 budget.’ He wants ‘the money recovered from both the NNPC retail and the major oil marketers and remitted to the Federation Account.’ The NNPCL also reportedly failed to account for over N15 billion (N14,134,947,949.80 and N1,087,533,332.62) ‘being outstanding revenues from debts owed by twenty-six marketers for 2021.’ The Auditor-General wants ‘the money recovered from the oil marketers and remitted to the Federation Account.’”
It further continued, “The NNPCL reportedly failed to account for over $29.6 million [$29,648,970.36] being outstanding royalties payable to the Department of Petroleum Resources CBN account.’ The Auditor-General is concerned this ‘may have resulted in difficulty in funding the 2021 budget.’ He wants the money recovered.’
“The NNPCL failed to collect over $2 billion ($2,260,448,992.45) ‘being outstanding oil royalties from oil companies for 2021’, and failed to collect over N48 billion (N48,218,163,192.67) ‘also being outstanding oil royalties from oil companies.’ The Auditor-General fears that ‘the money may be missing.’ He is concerned that this ‘may have resulted in difficulty in funding the 2021 budget.’ He wants ‘the money recovered from the oil companies and remitted to the Federation Account.’”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
The Punch
