The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), accusing it of failing to remit ₦500 billion in oil revenue to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.
The organisation disclosed the legal action on Sunday through a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating: “We’ve sued the NNPCL over the failure to account for the missing ₦500 billion oil money, which the NNPCL failed to remit to the Federation Account in 2024, and the claim that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to it.”
In suit number FHC/L/MSC/553/2025, filed on Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP is seeking a court order compelling the NNPCL to give a full account of the alleged missing funds and to formally request relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate the status and use of the money. The group is also demanding the recovery and immediate transfer of the funds to the Federation Account.
Additionally, SERAP is urging the court to instruct the NNPCL to identify individuals suspected of being involved in the alleged mismanagement of the ₦500 billion, impose financial liability on them for the full amount, and hand them over to anti-corruption authorities for investigation and prosecution.
According to SERAP, the NNPCL is bound to operate within the framework of the Nigerian Constitution (1999 as amended), the Freedom of Information Act, and international conventions on human rights and anti-corruption to which Nigeria is a party.
The group argued that the disappearance of the funds has compounded the country’s fragile economic situation, exacerbated government deficit spending, and worsened Nigeria’s debt burden.
SERAP maintained that the unremitted revenue is indicative of a broader failure within the NNPCL to operate transparently and be accountable to Nigerians. It cited a recent Supreme Court decision which held that the Freedom of Information Act applies to public records across the federation, including those maintained by the NNPCL.
In May 2025, SERAP issued a call to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mr Bayo Bashir Ojulari, demanding he disclose the whereabouts of the missing funds. The organisation asked Mr Ojulari to name those responsible, initiate efforts to retrieve the money, and refer the case to both the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
SERAP also pressed NNPCL to facilitate investigations by anti-graft agencies and ensure the full recovery and remittance of the funds to the Federation Account without further delay.
In a Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 17 May 2025 and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the group stated: “There is a legitimate public interest in explaining the whereabouts of the alleged missing ₦500 billion oil money and grave violations of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended].”
SERAP asserted that Nigeria’s oil wealth must be used solely for the benefit of its citizens and future generations. It argued that Nigerians are entitled to know why the NNPCL failed to remit subsidy savings and why states and local governments are allegedly being denied their constitutional allocations.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of findings in the World Bank’s most recent Nigeria Development Update, which revealed that NNPCL generated ₦1.1 trillion from crude oil sales and other sources in 2024 but remitted only ₦600 billion, leaving a discrepancy of ₦500 billion.
Similarly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the Nigerian government to ensure that savings from the removal of fuel subsidies are clearly reflected in the national budget. According to the IMF, NNPCL’s revenue from crude sales and other income totalled ₦1.1 trillion in 2024, but only ₦600 billion was remitted.
In 2023, President Bola Tinubu earned praise from global financial institutions after he announced the removal of petrol subsidies. The decision, which led to a sharp increase in fuel prices, was projected to save the government billions of dollars annually.
