In a letter signed by Kolawole Oluwadare, the deputy director of SERAP, on Saturday, May 17, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) demanded that Bayo Ojulari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), explain the N500 billion in oil revenue that the company allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.
According to a recent World Bank investigation, out of N1.1 trillion earned from
“SERAP is writing to request you to use your good offices and leadership position to promptly account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing N500 billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited failed to remit to the Federation Account,” the letter stated.
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SERAP further requested that Ojulari should find and prosecute people in control of the stolen monies and turn them over to anti-graft organisations for examination and prosecution.
“SERAP urges you to promptly identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to the ICPC and the EFCC,” the group wrote.
The group cited a World Bank report that said that the NNPCL did not comply with the expectation that all proceeds from oil sales and other sources be transferred into the Federation Account and distributed among all levels of government.
“Nigerians have the right to know why the NNPCL is remitting only 50 per cent of the gains generated from the removal of petrol subsidies to the Federation Account,” SERAP said.
“The failure by the NNPCL to remit the money is a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and international obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”
“Despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators,” the group added.
It stressed that the failure of the NNPCL to uphold transparency and accountability standards has worsened the country’s fiscal crisis.
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“The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency,” SERAP noted.
Citing paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, the group said any public officer who fails to account for government revenue “shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and handed over to either the EFCC or the ICPC.”
“Had the NNPCL accounted for and remitted the alleged missing N500 billion, it is likely that more funds would have been allocated to the fulfilment of economic and social rights,” the statement said.
SERAP is relying on Section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011, which gives Nigerians the right to request and receive public information from any public institution, including the NNPCL.
“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, the Incorporated Trustees of SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel the NNPCL to comply with our requests,” it warned.
