Nigeria’s anti-corruption drive has come under renewed scrutiny after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and 12 other federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) recorded zero compliance in the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) 2025 Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS).
The outcome places NNPCL at the bottom of 357 MDAs assessed nationwide, raising fresh concerns about governance standards in some of the country’s most strategic public institutions, especially within the oil and gas sector that underpins Nigeria’s economy.
NNPC ranks last as governance gaps widen
According to the ICPC report released on Wednesday, NNPCL failed across all four pillars used to measure institutional integrity: management culture and structure, financial management systems, administrative systems, and anti-corruption and transparency units. This zero score effectively classified the national oil company as a high-risk institution under the ICPC framework.
In contrast, sector regulators performed unevenly. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) emerged as the top-performing agency with a score of 91.83, reflecting stronger internal controls and compliance culture. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA), however, ranked far lower with a score of 38.25, highlighting persistent structural weaknesses.
The ICPC said the EICS serves as a diagnostic tool not just a ranking exercise to strengthen transparency, ethical conduct and institutional resilience across the public service.
Only 14% of MDAs show substantial compliance
Beyond NNPCL, the wider findings paint a troubling picture of public sector governance. Of the 357 MDAs assessed in 2025, only 48 agencies (13.95 per cent) achieved substantial compliance. 132 MDAs (38.37 per cent) recorded partial compliance, while 141 MDAs (40.99 per cent) were rated poorly. An additional 23 MDAs (6.69 per cent) were classified as non-compliant.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Aliyu Musa, represented at the presentation by the Director of Systems Study and Review, Mr Olusegun Adigun, said the results exposed “systemic weaknesses in ethical standards and institutional integrity” across government agencies. Notably, no MDA achieved full compliance, underscoring the depth of the challenge.
Thirteen MDAs, including NNPCL, were flagged as non-responsive and categorised as high-risk. Others on the list include federal universities, medical centres and development authorities spread across several states.
ICPC warns of profiling and enforcement actions
The commission has warned that MDAs with persistently low scores will face closer scrutiny. The ICPC said it may subject such agencies to system studies, profiling and enforcement actions to compel compliance with government statutes and anti-corruption directives.
“This is to promote integrity, accountability, efficiency and productivity in government business,” the commission stated, signalling a tougher stance going forward.
Efforts to obtain a response from NNPCL were unsuccessful as its spokesperson, Andy Odeh, did not answer calls or respond to messages as of the time of filing this report.
For analysts, the NNPCL ICPC integrity test outcome is more than a reputational issue. It raises broader questions about corporate governance, transparency and reform credibility in a sector critical to Nigeria’s fiscal stability. How the national oil company responds may determine whether this assessment becomes a turning point or just another missed opportunity in the country’s long-running governance reform journey.