Nigeria’s House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has launched an investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC) alleged $2.26 billion debt. The committee has formed two sub-committees, chaired by Jeremiah Umaru and Olusola Fatoba, to probe the debt and analyze the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) Remitta records.
The investigation stems from the Auditor-General’s 2021 report, which raised three queries against the NUPRC. These queries include:
- Outstanding Royalties: $253.95 million owed by NNPC-COMF MCA/PSC
- Unjustified Deductions: $204.85 billion deducted by NNPC from joint venture royalties before remitting to the Department of Petroleum Resources (now NUPRC)
- Unpaid Royalties: $2.26 billion and N48.22 billion owed by operators to the Federation Account for oil, gas, concession rentals, and gas flared ¹
NUPRC’s CEO, Gbenga Komolafe, stated that NNPC has paid $224.3 million of the outstanding revenue, leaving a balance of $29.6 million. The NUPRC has sent demand notices to NNPC and reported the issue to the Minister of Finance, but to no avail.
The committee has demanded proof from NUPRC that the alleged uncollected revenues have been recovered since the end of the 2021 financial year. The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, assured a fair and open hearing, stating that no one will be pronounced guilty without a chance to defend themselves.
This development comes after NNPC secured a $2.25 billion crude oil prepayment facility from Afreximbank in January 2024, with a second tranche of $1.05 billion expected to be disbursed subsequently ¹.
