The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over its alleged failure to account for approximately ₦5.9 billion. The funds were reportedly spent on the incorporation, transition, and rebranding of the oil firm.
The lawsuit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, comes amid growing public demand for transparency in the management of the country’s oil wealth following the transition of the state-owned corporation into a limited liability company.
In the suit, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus to compel the NNPCL to provide detailed spending profiles, contracts, and budgetary breakdowns of how the ₦5.9 billion was utilized.
According to the civil society organization, public interest demands that the transition process of the nation’s premier oil institution be free from corruption and opacity.
”The refusal of the NNPCL to provide the requested information violates the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and raises serious questions about the transparency of the entire rebranding process,” SERAP stated in its court filings.
The legal battle centers around three major phases of the oil giant’s recent evolution which is the legal costs and administrative expenses involved in registering NNPCL as a commercial entity.
The operational shift from the old Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) structure to the new commercialized model and the public relations, marketing, and logistical costs associated with unveiling the new NNPCL identity.
SERAP argues that because NNPCL manages public resources on behalf of over 200 million Nigerians, its financial dealings, especially massive capital outlays for administrative transitions must be open to public scrutiny.
The NNPCL has yet to issue an official response regarding the lawsuit. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit, but legal experts believe the case will serve as a litmus test for the applicability of the Freedom of Information Act to the newly commercialized oil entity.
