The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has commenced an investigation into billions of naira in outstanding regulatory obligations owed to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and oil firms.
The liabilities under scrutiny have risen to ₦432.07bn, according to findings contained in the Auditor-General’s annual audit reports and submissions made by the regulatory authority.
According to The Punch, the committee’s inquiry was triggered by concerns over unpaid petroleum-related obligations that have accumulated over several years.
The Auditor-General’s 2023 Annual Audit Report put the combined debt owed by NNPCL and oil companies at ₦392.73bn.
NNPCL was responsible for ₦162.46bn of the amount, while companies operating under the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, Major Marketers Association of Nigeria and Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria accounted for ₦230.27bn.
The outstanding obligations include Balancing Allowance, National Transport Average and the one per cent Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, as well as legacy debts connected to importation, coastal and credit transactions.
A subsequent 2024 report by the Auditor-General put the outstanding liabilities at ₦432.07bn, excluding obligations attributed to NNPCL.
Meanwhile, fresh documents submitted to the committee by the NMDPRA indicated that 146 companies operating under DAPPMAN, the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria owed the regulator ₦327.53bn as of 2025.
The committee expressed concern that some of the debts dated as far back as 2017, prompting questions about how effectively the NMDPRA had assessed, collected and recovered the outstanding funds.
Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, said on Wednesday that the investigation was designed to establish the circumstances surrounding the accumulated debts and ensure that revenue belonging to the government was properly accounted for and recovered.
He warned all summoned companies and institutions to appear before the committee with the appropriate representatives and relevant records.
“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,” Salam said.
The lawmakers are expected to scrutinise how the debts were calculated, the periods covered, payments made by the affected companies, outstanding balances and measures taken by the NMDPRA to recover the money.
The probe will also seek to determine why the liabilities remained unpaid for years and whether the regulator took adequate enforcement action against companies that defaulted.
The investigation comes amid increased scrutiny of revenue collection and remittance in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, which introduced major changes to the sector’s regulatory framework.
Established under the PIA, the NMDPRA oversees activities across Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum sectors, including petroleum product processing, transportation, distribution, domestic gas operations and related infrastructure.
Salam stressed that the exercise was part of the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight duties and was not targeted at any particular company or government institution.
He said the committee would require both the affected companies and the regulator to provide documents showing how the liabilities arose, amounts already recovered and balances that remain outstanding.
The committee maintained that it would deploy its oversight powers to ensure that public funds were properly accounted for and that relevant agencies took effective steps to recover outstanding government revenue.
