Tinubu faces legal action for failure to probe disappearance of $15bn and N200bn oil revenues

“The failure to probe the grim allegations that over US$15 billion in oil revenues and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries in Nigeria are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021” is the reason President Bola Tinubu has been brought before the courts.

This was announced on Sunday in a statement issued by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which launched the complaint against Tinubu and was led by Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy director of the organisation.

The claims are made in the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s 2021 report (NEITI).

“An order of mandamus to direct and compel President Tinubu to probe the allegations that US$15 billion of oil revenue, and N200 billion budgeted to repair and maintain the refineries in Nigeria are missing and unaccounted for,” is what SERAP is requesting in the lawsuit, FHC/L/CS/2334/2023, which was filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

In addition, SERAP is requesting: “an order of mandamus to compel President Tinubu to direct relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate allegations of corruption involving State Owned Enterprises (SOE), the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPDC).”

“An order of mandamus to compel President Tinubu to use any recovered proceeds of corruption to enhance the well-being of Nigerians” is another request made by SERAP.

“There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these serious allegations,” asserts SERAP in the lawsuit. If the requested reliefs were granted, offenders’ impunity would end, and victims of corruption would receive justice.

“The allegations of corruption documented by NEITI undermine economic development of the country, trap the majority of Nigerians in poverty and deprive them of opportunities,” is another claim made by SERAP.

As stated SERAP, “suspects will continue to enjoy impunity for their crimes and enjoy the fruits of their crimes unless the President is directed and compelled to get to the bottom of these damning revelations.”

According to SERAP, “public trust and confidence in governments at all levels have been undermined by many years of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the spending of oil revenues and impunity of perpetrators.”

Additionally, SERAP claims that “the findings by NEITI suggest a grave violation of the country’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption, national anticorruption laws, and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended].”

In part, the lawsuit that SERAP’s attorneys, Kolawole Oluwadare, Andrew Nwankwo, and Ms. Valentina Adegoke, filed said that the Tinubu government was required by the constitution to guarantee accountability and transparency in the country’s oil riches expenditures.

“SERAP is requesting a mandamus order to order President Tinubu to establish procedures for transparency and accountability in the oil industry.”

The government of Nigeria is mandated under Section 13 of the constitution to strictly adhere to, observe, and implement the laws found in Chapter 2. The government is mandated under Section 15(5) to “abolish all corrupt practises and abuse of power” throughout the nation.

The government is tasked with “securing the maximum welfare, freedom, and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity,” according to Section 16(1) of the Constitution.

“The nation’s material resources are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good,” according to Section 16(2).

“Similarly, the government is legally required to ensure proper management of public affairs and public funds, as well as to promote transparent administration of public affairs,” according to articles 5 and 9 of the UN Convention against Corruption.

“The government is required by the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption to effectively prevent, look into, and hold public officials and non-state actors accountable for any violations of the plundering of the nation’s wealth and natural resources.”

“In cases of grand corruption, the government is specifically required by article 26 of the UN convention to ensure ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions,’ including criminal and non-criminal sanctions.”

“Article 26 enhances Article 30, Paragraph 1’s more general mandate that sanctions must consider the seriousness of the allegations of corruption.”

Additionally, Nigeria participates in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims to establish a set of global standards on income transparency in order to promote greater governmental responsibility for the use of wealth derived from natural resources.

“EITI also seeks to address poverty, violence, and corruption linked to the riches of natural resources. Nigeria is required to put into practise the EITI Standard, which lays out the requirements for transparency that participating states, including Nigeria, must meet.

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPDC) are among the government organisations that, according to the NEITI 2021 report, failed to send $13.591 million and $8.251 billion to the public coffers, respectively.

More than 70% of these public monies were not remitted by the NNPC or NPDC. NEITI demands an investigation into the NNPC and NPDC as well as the complete recovery of the embezzled public funds.

According to the report, the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) and their subsidiaries, the NNPC Group, allegedly spent US$6.931 billion in 2021 on behalf of the Federal Government without the National Assembly’s approval. It’s possible the money is gone.

“The NNPC also allegedly received a $3 billion loan in 2012, ostensibly to settle payments for subsidies owed to marketers of petroleum products, but the specifics of the loan, subsidy, and the recipients of the payments have not been disclosed.”

The audit also reveals that N9.73 billion in pipeline transportation revenue from Joint Venture operations was paid to the NNPC; however, neither the money nor its correct accounting were submitted to the Federation. The $7.61 million earned from the sale of crude oil was likewise not remitted by the NPDC in 2021.

According to the report, between 2020 and 2021, around N200 billion was spent on “refineries rehabilitation,” but in spite of this, “none of the refineries was operational in 2021.” Since the funds might be missing, NEITI wants the spending to be looked into.

Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has joined the lawsuit as a Respondent.

The suit hearing has not yet been scheduled.