Nigeria's anti-corruption watchdog demands probe into ₦94.4bn oil revenue allegations

SERAP has demanded President Tinubu investigate over ₦94.4 billion in alleged petroleum fund irregularities at the MDGIF and NUPRC, citing findings in the Auditor-General's 2024 report, with a seven-day deadline and threats of legal action. The allegations include unremitted revenue, uncollected gas-flaring penalties, and questionable payments to consultants without adequate documentation.

Quick Facts

SERAP demanded investigation into alleged mismanagement of ₦94.4 billion in public funds
Auditor-General identified failed remittance of petroleum product sales revenue
MDGIF paid ₦3.518 billion to consultant without presidential approval
NUPRC failed to remit gas-flaring penalties to MDGIF
MDGIF failed to account for natural gas sales revenue

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a civil society organisation, has called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate allegations that over ₦94.4 billion in public funds were diverted, unremitted, unaccounted for, or irregularly spent by the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). The allegations are documented in the Auditor-General of the Federation's 2024 (Volume 2) Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, which covered financial periods from January 2023 through December 2024.

In a letter dated October 3, 2026, signed by Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP specified multiple alleged irregularities: the MDGIF failed to remit ₦26.549 billion in petroleum product sales revenue between January 2022 and December 2024; the MDGIF failed to remit and report ₦12.480 billion in gas-flaring penalties for 2023; the NUPRC failed to remit ₦38.610 billion in gas-flaring penalties to the MDGIF; and the MDGIF failed to account for ₦12.940 billion in natural gas sales revenue in 2024. The audit also flagged a ₦3.518 billion payment to a consultant for gas-flaring penalty recovery lacking presidential approval and evidence of due process, plus ₦261.852 million and ₦65.8 million in payments to transaction advisers without evidence of work completion.

SERAP demanded that President Tinubu direct anti-corruption agencies to investigate the findings, recover affected funds, and prosecute those responsible where sufficient evidence exists. The organisation also called for the MDGIF to publish audited financial statements for 2022, 2023, and 2024, and for both institutions to disclose detailed transaction schedules showing amounts collected, remitted, recovered, dates, responsible officials, and receiving accounts. The Auditor-General warned that failures to remit gas-flaring penalties could result in insufficient funds for environmental remediation and increase risks of civil unrest in affected communities.

SERAP gave the government seven days to respond to its demands, threatening legal action if requests were not addressed. The organisation emphasised that President Tinubu's dual role as head of state and Minister of Petroleum Resources placed particular responsibility on him to ensure oversight and accountability in the petroleum sector. The context includes recent statements from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, announcing an 80 per cent increase in crude oil production over three years to 1.824 million barrels per day, increased active rig counts from fewer than 10 to over 70, and subsidy removal proceeds of over ₦2 trillion being distributed among the three tiers of government.

Opposition figure Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, separately called on Tinubu to publish contracts, payments, results, and details of re-election funding sources, appearing to suggest the missing funds might have been diverted to 2027 election campaign activities. The allegations raise broader questions about the management of Nigeria's petroleum revenues and gas-flaring penalties, oversight mechanisms, and financial controls within petroleum-sector institutions.

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#Nigeria #petroleum #anti-corruption #fund mismanagement #audit #accountability #MDGIF #NUPRC #gas-flaring penalties #oil revenue

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Why This Matters

Nigeria's petroleum sector faces documented alleged fund mismanagement of ₦94.4 billion spanning remittance failures, uncollected gas-flaring penalties, and undocumented consultant payments. The allegations directly affect public fund recovery, environmental remediation capacity (gas-flaring penalties fund environmental projects), and government revenue accounting. If investigation confirms findings, outcomes include potential fund recovery, personnel accountability, and revised financial controls in petroleum institutions; non-compliance with SERAP's seven-day deadline may trigger civil litigation. The scale affects Nigeria's fiscal position and petroleum sector transparency, with implications for future revenue collection and environmental compliance in crude-oil-producing communities.