President Bola Tinubu has been called by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to look into claims that over $15 billion in oil earnings and N200 billion set aside for refinery repairs are missing.
According to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the organization requested that the President “set up a presidential panel of enquiry to promptly probe the grim allegations that over US$15 billion of oil revenues and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021.”
In order to “ensure their effective prosecution as well as the full recovery of any proceeds of crime,” SERAP encouraged him to “name and shame anyone suspected to be responsible for the missing and unaccounted for public funds.”
Additionally, SERAP pushed him “to use any recovered proceeds of crime, and to fully implement all the recommendations by NEITI in its 2021 report.”
“There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these serious allegations,” the organization stated in a letter dated September 23, 2023, signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare. By taking these crucial steps, offenders would no longer be able to get away with it.
“Your office, as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources, should be concerned about these damning revelations by investigating the claims and making sure that those who may have committed these crimes are swiftly brought to justice and that any public funds that have gone missing are fully recovered.”
The letter went on to say that major resource allocation and an increase in the nation’s debt burden would result from a failure to look into these grave claims, prosecute those accused of committing them, and retrieve any lost public cash.
It would also discourage foreign investment, restrict growth and development, and eventually breed skepticism and mistrust among the populace over your government’s capacity to battle high-level official corruption.
Therefore, we would appreciate it if the suggested actions were carried out within seven days of this letter’s receipt and/or publishing. In the event that we do not hear back from you by then, SERAP will evaluate taking necessary legal action to force your government to abide by our request in the best interests of the public.
The Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], national anticorruption laws, and the nation’s responsibilities under the UN Convention against Corruption are all seriously violated, according to NEITI’s findings, which also point to a serious breach of public confidence.
“The NEITI’s documented corruption allegations impede the nation’s economic progress, keep the vast majority of Nigerians impoverished, and deny them opportunities.”
“It is your government’s constitutional obligation to guarantee accountability and openness in the use of the nation’s resources and wealth.”
The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPDC) failed to submit $13.591 million and $8.251 billion to the national treasury, respectively, according to SERAP’s analysis of the 2021 report.
The statement went on, “More than 70% of these public money were not remitted by the NNPC and NPDC. NEITI demands an investigation into the NNPC and NPDC as well as the complete recovery of the embezzled public funds.
According to the report, the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) and their subsidiaries, the NNPC Group, allegedly spent US$6.931 billion in 2021 on behalf of the Federal Government without the National Assembly’s approval. The funds might be gone.
“The NNPC also allegedly received a $3 billion loan in 2012, ostensibly to repay payments for subsidies owed to marketers of petroleum products, but the specifics of the loan, the subsidy, and the recipients of the payments were not disclosed.
The audit also reveals that N9.73 billion in pipeline transportation revenue from Joint Venture operations was paid to the NNPC; however, neither the money nor its correct accounting were submitted to the Federation. The $7.61 million earned from the sale of crude oil was likewise not remitted by the NPDC in 2021.
According to the report, between 2020 and 2021, around N200 billion was spent on “refineries rehabilitation,” but in spite of this, “none of the refineries was operational in 2021.” Since the funds might be missing, NEITI wants the spending to be looked into.
