By Abiola Olawale
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has initiated a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) before a Federal High Court in Abuja, over an alleged failure of the company to account for $2.04 billion and N164 billion oil revenues reportedly missing.
In the case number FHC/ABJ/CS/549/2024, filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is requesting an order of mandamus to instruct and require the NNPC to detail and clarify the location of the $2.04 billion and N164 billion reportedly missing.
In the legal action initiated on behalf of SERAP by its attorneys, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, the human rights group said Nigerians have continued to suffer due to these missing oil revenues.
The human rights group also said that the alleged missing oil revenues indicate a broader accountability problem within the NNPCL.
SERAP urged the NNPCL 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,” and “ensure the full recovery and remittance” of the missing funds into the Federation Account.
The organization noted that the failure to account for the missing oil revenues reflects the nation’s oil giant’s “continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability,” adding that it’s a “grave violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended],” among others.
In the suit, SERAP argues 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.
“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.”
According to SERAP, the Auditor-General of the Federation “has, for many years, documented reports of the disappearance of public funds from the NNPC,” while the AGF “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 the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),” among others.
The New Diplomat reports that the latest SERAP lawsuit 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 allegedly diverted.
