SERAP Seeks Court Order Against NNPCL Over ‘Missing Revenue’

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over its alleged failure to account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged miss­ing USD$2.04 billion and N164 bil­lion oil revenues.

The suit followed the allega­tions documented in the recently published 2020 audited report by the Auditor General of the Fed­eration that the NNPC failed to remit the money into the Feder­ation Account, saying that the money may have been diverted.

In the suit number FHC/ ABJ/CS/549/2024 filed last Fri­day at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking: “An order of mandamus to direct and compel the NNPC to account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing USD$2.04 billion and N164 billion oil revenues, as documented in report by the Au­ditor-General.”

SERAP is seeking: “An order of mandamus to compel the NNPC to hand over suspected perpetrators to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other relat­ed offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and prosecution.”

SERAP is also seeking: “An or­der of mandamus to compel the NNPC to ensure the full recovery and remittance of the missing USD$2.04 billion and N164 billion into the Federation Account.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that “there is a legitimate public interest in providing the details sought. The NNPC has a legal responsibility to account for and explain the whereabouts of the disappeared money.

“The missing oil revenues have further damaged the al­ready precarious economy in the country and contributed to high levels of deficit spending by the government.

“Without the full recovery and remittance of the missing USD$2.04 billion and N164 billion oil revenues, the dire economic situation may worsen and Nige­rians will continue to be denied access to basic public goods and services.

“The Auditor-General has for many years documented reports of disappearance of public funds from the NNPC. Nigerians con­tinue to bear the brunt of these missing oil revenues.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewu­mi, also reads in part: “The al­leged missing oil revenues reflect a failure of NNPCL accountabil­ity more generally and are di­rectly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability.

“The failure by the NNPC to account for and explain the whereabouts of the disappeared money is a grave violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Con­stitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, na­tional anticorruption laws, and the country’s obligations under the UN Convention against Cor­ruption.

“Had the NNPCL and its sub­sidiaries accounted for and remit­ted the disappeared public funds into the Federation Account, it is likely that more funds would have been allocated to the ful­fillment of economic and social rights of Nigerians, such as in­creased spending on public goods and services.

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“The missing oil revenues have also impeded Nigerians’ ability to enjoy their economic and social rights, and denied them access to essential public goods and services, especially at the time of cost of living crisis in the country.

“Nigerians have the right to know the whereabouts of the disappeared oil money. Ensur­ing transparency and account­ability in the management of oil revenues would advance the right of Nigerians to restitution, compensation and guarantee of non-repetition.

“According to the recently published 2020 audited report by the Auditor General of the Fed­eration (AGF), the NNPC failed to remit over USD$2 billion and N164 billion oil revenues into the Federation Account.

“The Auditor-General fears that the money may have been di­verted into private pockets, deny­ing the government the funding needed to carry out its activities.

“The NNPCL reportedly failed and/or refused to remit N151,121,999,966. The NNPCL without any justification de­ducted the money from the oil royalties assessed for 2020 by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) now Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).”

However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.