A non-governmental organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has urged the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, to “account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged missing N825bn and $2.5bn meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation’ and other oil revenues, as documented in the 2021 annual report by the Auditor-General of the Federation” published on Thursday, November 27, 2024.

SERAP, in a letter dated January 4, 2025 and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged Kyari “to identify those suspected to be responsible for the disappeared oil money and hand them over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”.

SERAP applauded the NNPC Group CEO’s “timely public invitation” to former President Olusegun Obasanjo to tour the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, saying the invitation was not disrespectful. It, however, urged him to formally invite the former President.

It also asked that invitation be extended to the EFCC and ICPC to monitor the operations of the refineries and any spending on them, including the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, in the interest of transparency.

“Your public invitation to Obasanjo is well-justified, and entirely consistent with the letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international obligations on the obligations of the NNPCL and the roles of citizens in preventing and combating grand corruption,” SERAP said in the letter.

SERAP said the allegations by the Auditor-General were “grim” and suggested a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and the country’s international obligations.

“The allegations have also undermined economic development of the country, trapped the majority of Nigerians in poverty and deprived them of opportunities,” SERAP said.

The organisation urged the NNPC to take the recommended measures within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of the letter or it would, in the public interest, consider appropriate legal actions to compel the NNPC to comply.

“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,” SERAP said.

It said the state-owned oil company reportedly failed to account for over N82 billion [N82,951,595,510.47] meant for ‘refinery rehabilitation and repairs’, which 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’,” SERAP said.

SERAP enumerated other monies NNPC has reportedly not accounted for to include over N343 billion [N343,642,598,726.51] being proceeds from domestic crude sales; over N83 billion [N83,659,813,739.99] being miscellaneous income from the NNPC joint venture operations from 2016 to 2020; over N204 billion [N204,853,744,047.39] being unjustified deductions from the oil royalties for 2021; 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; over N28 billion [N28,654,179,867.00] being outstanding bridging allowance from NNPC retail for 2021; over N13.5 billion [N13,5559,658,148.91] being outstanding bridging allowance claims from three major oil marketers in 2021; over N15 billion [N14,134,947,949.80 and N1,087,533,332.62] being outstanding revenues from debts owed by 26 marketers for 2021; and over $29.6 million [$29,648,970.36] being outstanding royalties payable to the Department of Petroleum Resources CBN account.

SERAP further said the NNPC 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’,” SERAP said.

“SERAP notes that Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) requires public institutions to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.

“The Auditor-General has for many years documented reports of disappearance of public funds from the NNPC. Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of these missing public funds meant for refinery rehabilitation,” it said.