The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP Nigeria, has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited for failing to account for the alleged missing ₦500 billion, which the company reportedly did not remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.
The lawsuit comes in response to recent World Bank allegations that out of the ₦1.1 trillion generated from crude oil sales and other revenues in 2024, NNPC Limited remitted only ₦600 billion—leaving a shortfall of ₦500 billion unaccounted for.
SERAP NIGERIA: NNPC Response to F.O.I
In response to SERAP’s Freedom of Information, FoI request, NNPC Limited, through its legal representatives Afe Babalola & Co., asserted that the FOI Act does not apply to the company.
According to SERAP Nigeria, the organization has asked the court to “direct and compel the NNPCL to invite appropriate anticorruption agencies to investigate the spending and whereabouts of the said ₦500 billion and to ensure the prompt recovery and remittance of the money to the Federation Account.”
SERAP is further urging the court to “direct and compel the NNPCL to identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil funds, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to appropriate anticorruption agencies for investigation and prosecution.”
In the suit, SERAP contends that: “The NNPCL has a responsibility to comply with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s international human rights and anticorruption obligations in the exercise of its statutory functions.”
SERAP also argues that: “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 and the country’s crippling debt crisis.”
According to SERAP, “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 and accountability.”
The organization further cites a recent legal precedent: “The Supreme Court in a groundbreaking judgment recently declared that the Freedom of Information Act ‘is applicable and applies to the public records in the Federation’, including those kept by the NNPCL.”
This incident echoes a similar case reported last month by SERAP, where SERAP Nigeria sued CBN over 774 Rivers State LGA council payment in related incidents.”
The suit, filed on behalf of SERAP by Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms. Oluwakemi Oni, and Ms. Valentina Adegoke, states in part: “Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of these missing public funds from the NNPCL meant for the economic development of the country.”
For more on the lawsuit and NNPC’s stance, see SERAP’s coverage of the filed suit
A date is not yet fixed for the hearing of the suit.
