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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), accusing the oil corporation of failing to account for ₦825 billion and $2.5 billion in public funds reportedly meant for refinery repairs and oil sector revenues.
In a statement on Sunday, SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare confirmed that the suit was filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, following alarming revelations in the 2021 audited report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu.
“The Auditor-General fears that the money may have been diverted,” SERAP stated, adding that the NNPCL’s consistent failure to explain the missing funds “reflects a deeper problem of institutional unaccountability.”
According to SERAP, the funds include over ₦343 billion deducted from crude oil sales, ₦204 billion in oil royalties, and $2.2 billion in outstanding payments from oil companies. It also pointed to ₦83 billion in unexplained withdrawals from a CBN/NNPC joint venture account.
The suit (FHC/L/MISC/722/25) seeks a court order compelling NNPCL to trace and return the funds to the Federation Account, identify those responsible, and submit them for investigation and prosecution by anti-corruption agencies.
“Granting this relief would strike a blow against impunity and serve justice to the Nigerian people who continue to suffer due to systemic corruption in the oil sector,” SERAP argued in the filing.
The group further referenced recent comments by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who declared that NNPCL refineries “may never work again” despite over $18 billion already spent on rehabilitation efforts.
No date has yet been set for the hearing.