The Socioeconomic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to take legal action against Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. (NNPC) over purportedly missing oil revenues.
In a letter to NNPC chief executive Mele Kolo Kyari the non-governmental accountability watchdog cited a 2020 report by the West African country’s auditor-general about $2 billion and NGN164 billion ($102.4 billion) that the national oil and gas company apparently failed to remit to the state.
The letter asked, as quoted in a SERAP press statement, the NNPC boss “to name and shame those responsible for the disappeared oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to appropriate anticorruption agencies, as provided for under paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, and recommended by the Auditor-General”.
SERAP also demanded the missing amounts remitted to state coffers without further delay.
“The missing oil revenues have further damaged the already precarious economy in the country and contributed to very high levels of deficit spending by the government”, read the letter, as quoted in the SERAP statement.
“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 letter added.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel the NNPCL to comply with our requests in the public interest”.
NNPC has not replied to a Rigzone request for comment.
Earlier this year NNPC reported NGN 2.5 trillion ($1.6 billion) in income for the 16-month period to December 2022. NNPC collected NGN 8.8 trillion ($5.5 billion) in revenue for the period, while it owed NGN 344 billion ($214.3 million) in income tax.
SERAP said in the letter, “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, such as increased spending on public goods and services”.
“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”.
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