The Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) owes the Federal Government about ₦6.57 trillion as of May 2025.
In its latest report, FAAC said the debt includes ₦3.89 trillion in unpaid royalties due to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and ₦2.52 trillion in outstanding tax liabilities owed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The committee presented its findings in a document titled “NNPC Ltd Payables to NUPRC, FIRS & Federation as at May 2025 FAAC,” which was tabled at the May FAAC meeting. The report, seen by our correspondent on Friday, raises fresh concerns about the national oil company’s financial discipline and Nigeria’s dwindling oil revenue.
A breakdown shows the debt covers unpaid royalties, taxes, and dividends spanning June 2023 to April 2025. Besides royalties and taxes, NNPCL still owes ₦162.33 billion in unremitted dividends.
Earlier this year, the World Bank flagged similar concerns, disclosing that NNPCL remitted only half of its expected revenue after fuel subsidy removal. In 2024 alone, despite generating ₦1.1 trillion from crude sales and other streams, NNPCL transferred only ₦600 billion to the federation account, leaving a gap of ₦500 billion.
“NNPCL began transferring revenue gains to the Federation only in January 2025, despite fully removing petrol subsidies in October 2024. Since then, it has remitted only 50% of those gains while using the rest to settle legacy debts,” the World Bank said in its latest report.
FAAC Report Shows Fluctuating Backlogs
FAAC’s records expose wide swings in monthly remittances. Royalty obligations alone spiked to ₦321.99 billion in September 2023 but dropped to ₦127.32 billion by May 2024. Tax liabilities followed a similar unstable pattern, peaking at ₦173.9 billion in October 2023 before plunging to ₦34.2 billion by January 2024.
From July to December 2023, royalty arrears climbed from ₦133.96 billion to ₦178.47 billion, while tax backlogs dropped sharply from ₦173 billion to ₦81.8 billion. In 2024, royalties rose again to ₦229.49 billion in March before dipping slightly by midyear.
Between January and April 2025, royalty debts hovered above ₦130 billion monthly, while unpaid taxes remained over ₦64 billion, showing no significant signs of clearance.
In total, NNPCL owed ₦2.03 trillion in 2023 alone — ₦1.19 trillion in royalties and ₦843.28 billion in taxes — an amount the Office of the Accountant General is expected to reconcile.
From January 2024 to April 2025, new arrears added ₦4.54 trillion to the backlog, with a carried-forward balance of ₦107.67 billion. Monthly breakdowns show that outstanding oil-related payments started at ₦208.57 billion in January 2024, climbed to ₦532.07 billion by March, and closed the year at nearly ₦450 billion in December.
The document further explained that “outstandings up to May 2023 for royalties, taxes, and 40% PSC profit due to the Federation were captured under the Presidential Approved Stakeholder Alignment Committee.”
FAAC noted that NNPCL remitted 50% of Joint Venture royalties and taxes for February, March, April, and May 2025, based on the Central Bank’s exchange rates for the crude lifting months.
NNPCL Accuses ‘Faceless Actors’ of Smear Campaign
Meanwhile, NNPCL’s management has accused unnamed individuals, both within and outside the company, of orchestrating a coordinated campaign to discredit its leadership and block its reforms.
In a statement early Friday, the national oil company alleged that detractors were planting fabricated stories to distract executives and mislead Nigerians.
“This group spreads lies to sabotage our anti-corruption drive and frustrate the President’s mandate for a cleaner, performance-driven NNPC,” the statement read.
NNPCL insisted it remains committed to full transparency and accountability, despite what it called an “emerging smear campaign” by those threatened by change.
The company’s rebuttal comes as the Senate Committee on Public Accounts intensifies its probe into over ₦210 trillion in audit discrepancies flagged in NNPCL’s 2017–2023 financial statements. The Senate has ordered the GCEO, Bashiru Ojulari, to appear in person by July 10, or face possible arrest.
NNPCL said it would not bow to intimidation or abandon its reform agenda, urging Nigerians to ignore “defamatory distractions” and support its transformation push.