For failing to account for missing $2.04bn, N164bn oil revenue, a rights group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) said it has dragged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) to court over the “failure to account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged missing $2.04 billion and N164 billion oil revenues.”
A statement by the group’s Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare yesterday said the suit followed some 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 the money may have been diverted.
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/549/2024 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP was seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct the NNPC to account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing $2.04 billion and N164 billion oil revenues, as documented in a report by the Auditor-General.”
SERAP, the statement said, is seeking: “an order of mandamus to compel the NNPC 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.”
It is also seeking: “an order of mandamus to compel the NNPC to ensure the full recovery and remittance of the missing USD$2.04 billion and N164 billion into the Federation Account.”
In the suit, SERAP is arguing 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.”
According to SERAP, 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.
The group is arguing that “without the full recovery and remittance of the missing $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.”
The Auditor-General, the group said, has for many years documented reports of the disappearance of public funds from the NNPC. Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of these missing oil revenues.”
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, read in part: “The alleged missing oil revenues reflect a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and are directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability.”
“The failure by the NNPC to account for and explain the whereabouts of the disappeared money is a grave violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, national anticorruption laws, and the country’s obligations under the UN Convention against corruption.”
“Had the NNPCL and its subsidiaries accounted for and remitted the disappeared public funds into the Federation Account, it is likely that more funds would have been allocated to the fulfillment of economic and social rights of Nigerians, such as increased spending on public goods and services.”
“The missing oil revenues have also impeded Nigerians’ ability to enjoy their economic and social rights and denied them access to essential public goods and services, especially at the time of cost-of-living crisis in the country.”
“Nigerians have the right to know the whereabouts of the disappeared oil money. Ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of oil revenues would advance the right of Nigerians to restitution, compensation, and guarantee of non-repetition.”
The group also noted that Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) requires public institutions to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.
“Section 16(2) of the Nigerian Constitution further provides that, ‘the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good.’”
“Section 13 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] imposes clear responsibility on the NNPCL to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of Chapter 2 of the Constitution,” it said.
