SERAP Queries NNPCL Over Missing ₦22.3bn, $49.7m, £14.3m, and €5.2m in Oil Funds

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, to clarify the whereabouts of alleged missing oil revenues amounting to ₦22.3 billion, $49.7 million, £14.3 million, and €5.2 million. The civic group said the unaccounted sums were exposed in the 2022 annual report released by the Auditor-General of the Federation on September 9, 2025.

In a letter dated October 25, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP called on Ojulari to identify those responsible for the alleged diversion or misappropriation of funds and refer them to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for prosecution. The group also demanded that the missing funds be recovered and returned to the national treasury without delay.

SERAP described the Auditor-General’s findings as evidence of “systemic corruption” within the NNPCL, which it said has undermined Nigeria’s economic growth, trapped millions in poverty, and denied citizens access to essential public services. It further lamented that the Auditor-General has repeatedly reported similar cases of unremitted or missing oil revenues, noting that ordinary Nigerians continue to suffer from the consequences of corruption in the oil sector.

Highlighting several financial irregularities from the report, SERAP cited an abandoned ₦292 million Accident and Emergency Facility in Abuja, £14 million allegedly spent on repairing the company’s London office without proof of work done, and a questionable $22.8 million payment to a contractor for crude lifting. Other issues included ₦2.3 billion paid as car cash options to staff without approval, ₦12.7 billion in unremitted operating surplus, and €5.1 million disbursed for jetty operations without documentation. SERAP gave the NNPCL a seven-day ultimatum to act on its recommendations or face legal action to compel compliance.