*As NNPC chairman pledges extreme transparency with company affairs

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Peter Uzoho

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over the “failure to account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged missing N825bn and $2.5bn meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation’ and other oil revenues.”
The suit followed damning allegations documented in the 2021 audited report by the Auditor-General of the Federation, which was published on 27 November 2024. Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group also last week said that NNPCL refineries may never work again, despite the $18 billion spent on them.

But following the recent public attacks and allegations against NNPCL sparked by the controversial exotic trip by its officials on a retreat in Kilgali, Rwanda and other issues, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Kida Musa has promised that the organisation will be extremely transparent to all Nigerians on the affairs of the oil company.
Musa also appealed to Nigerians to assist the company’s leadership to deliver on its mandate by refraining from hounding the management led by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mr. Bayo Ojulari.
Meanwhile, 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.”
SERAP is also asking the court to “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 is arguing 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.”
SERAP is also arguing that, “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.”

According to SERAP, “These grim allegations have also undermined economic development of the country, trapped the majority of Nigerians in poverty, and contributed to high levels of deficit spending by the government.”
SERAP is also arguing that, “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.”
According to SERAP, “The Auditor-General has for many years documented reports of 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, read in part: “The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL 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.
“The Auditor-General fears the money may be missing. 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 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.’

“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.

Meanwhile, pledging extreme transparency, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Kida Musa, said the current NNPC board that he chairs will expand engagement with Nigerian youth by leveraging sports which is a major engaging and unifying activity in the country, saying that will enable the youth and all Nigerians, who are the shareholders of the national oil company to have a different view and understanding of the organisation.  

Musa stated this at the weekend in Lagos at a send-forth ceremony organised in his honour by the management of Pan Ocean & Newcross Companies in celebration of his distinguished leadership and contributions to the organisation.

The Bornu-born civil engineer served the Pan Ocean/Newcross companies for 15 months as director of technical and sustainability after his retirement from TotalEnergies Nigeria EP Limited as deputy managing director, deepwater district in 2020.

In early April this year, he was appointed the  chairman of NNPC Limited by President Bola Tinubu in a new 11-man board of the company.

The appointment of the new NNPC hoard and management team had received wide applause from stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry owing to the sterling qualities of the appointees.

However, a couple of weeks ago, the new NNPC management was hit with fierce criticism and accusations when they allegedly embarked on the Rwandan retreat in private jets.

Speaking after receiving accolades and felicitations from industry stakeholders and the Pan Ocean & Newcross team, Musa, who made reference to that controversial retreat, pledged that NNPC under the current management and board will be extremely transparent in the affairs of the national oil firm.

He commended President Tinubu for not making the mistake of appointing them to that board at this time despite political pressures and for his tenacity to respond to the yearnings of the oil and gas industry.

He thanked the stakeholders for always speaking good of him, especially since his appointment as NNPC Chairman.

He said the NNPC management team led by Ojulari has hit the ground running in ensuring that the best actions were taken for the growth of the company and value for Nigerians.

Musa mentioned that Ojulari has been representing and defending the company and Nigeria well through his speeches at local industry events and at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

He appealed to Nigerians to lend their support to the GCEO and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of NNPC, Adedapo Segun to enable them succeed, adding “Let’s make their lives a bit easier. Let’s help them when we can. And let’s not hound them when we don’t have to.

“Clearly, you would have seen that in the past few days, in the past few weeks, we have had our own continuous baptism of what it is the board is representing.”

Musa, who sounded a bit uncomfortable with stories making the round about the exotic vacation embarked on by NNPC management to Kigali, wondering how that shouold be the only story about the company.

He said, “How can that be the narrative when you see that Nigeria in the last three months has moved up its production to 1.7 million barrels? Something we haven’t done in a long time, from the doldrums. There was a time Nigeria’s production was less than 1 million. I remember when we took over three months ago, our first question was what are we producing?

“Now you have an NNPC Limited that is publishing to Nigerians, the true stakeholders of NMPC Limited, how much we’re producing.  We’re telling you how much we’re making, we’re even going the extent of telling you what it is we’re doing to change our narrative as concerns you, stakeholders.

“And again, the board has a mandate and it’s very clear in our vision that no matter what we do, no matter what we undertake, the true stakeholder of NNPC Limited is the man on the streets, is the guy who knows NNPC only through the lenses of long queues, of scandals, of private jets, and so on and so forth.

“And for us, we’re going to do everything within our power to make sure that we correct that narrative, that they see us, you see us for what it is that we are.

“And it just means that we have to be very truthful, we’ll have to be extremely transparent and to you, you must see that we have established some kind of structure, put in a lot of processes in order that transparently, you can see what goes into NNPC and what comes out without any political inkling.”

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