By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has commenced an investigation into outstanding debts owed to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) by oil companies and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), with the liabilities put at N432.07 billion.
The investigation followed findings contained in the Auditor-General’s annual audit reports on unpaid regulatory and petroleum-related obligations.
According to the Auditor-General’s 2023 Annual Audit Report, NNPCL and oil companies operating under the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) owed the NMDPRA N392,725,541,038.24.
The outstanding obligations covered Balancing Allowance, National Transport Average, the one per cent Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, as well as legacy debts linked to imports, coastal transactions and credit transactions.
A breakdown of the 2023 figure showed that NNPCL accounted for N162,456,750,832.47, while the oil companies owed N230,268,790,205.77.
However, the Auditor-General’s 2024 report put the outstanding debt at N432,072,557,867.17, excluding the indebtedness of NNPCL.
Submissions made by the NMDPRA to the committee also showed that 146 oil companies operating under DAPPMAN, MEMAN and MOMAN owed the regulatory authority N327,525,987,255.67 as of 2025.
The committee noted that the debts covered obligations dating back to 2017 and remained largely unpaid at the time of the review.
The Chairman PAC, Rep. Bamidele Salam, said the committee will ensure that all affected entities accounted for their obligations and submitted relevant records to enable Parliament to establish how the debts accumulated and why they remained outstanding.
Rep. Salam also warned companies and institutions summoned by the committee against ignoring parliamentary invitations.
He said, “Any company invited by this Committee must respect the people’s Parliament of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by honouring the summons with appropriate representation and all relevant documents. We are not here to witch-hunt anybody; our responsibility is to establish the facts, protect public revenue and ensure that every naira due to government is properly accounted for.”
According to him, lawmakers will scrutinise records relating to the outstanding liabilities, including the basis of the debts, the periods covered, payments already made, balances outstanding and measures taken by the regulatory authorities to recover the money.
He said the investigation was intended to strengthen accountability in the management of public revenue and prevent statutory obligations owed to government agencies from accumulating without effective recovery measures.
The PAC reaffirmed its commitment to exercising its constitutional oversight powers to ensure that public revenue was properly accounted for and that government agencies took appropriate steps to recover outstanding liabilities.
The investigation is expected to shed more light on the scale of the debts, the entities responsible and the measures required to recover the funds owed to the government.
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