The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has commenced an investigation into N432.07 billion owed to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) by oil companies and other entities in the petroleum sector. The debt, identified in the Auditor-General’s 2024 annual audit report, excludes the indebtedness attributed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
The investigation follows findings from successive audit reports highlighting billions of naira in unpaid obligations linked to regulatory and petroleum-related activities. According to the committee, the 2023 audit report had put total outstanding liabilities to NMDPRA at about N392.73 billion, with N162.46 billion attributed to NNPC and N230.27 billion owed by oil companies operating under industry groups including DAPPMAN, MOMAN and MEMAN.
The lawmakers said the outstanding obligations cover areas such as balancing allowance, national transport average and the 1 percent Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund. The audit findings also identified legacy debts connected to petroleum imports, coastal transactions and credit transactions, raising concerns over the prolonged accumulation of liabilities that remain unpaid.
Further submissions from NMDPRA showed that 146 oil companies operating under DAPPMAN, MEMAN and MOMAN owed the authority N327.53 billion as of 2025. The committee said much of the debt, covering obligations from 2017 to 2023, remained outstanding at the time of its review. PAC Chairman Bamidele Salam said invited companies would be required to appear before the committee with relevant records to explain their obligations and payments.
Salam stressed that the probe was not intended to witch-hunt any company but to protect government revenue and ensure that money owed to the public is properly accounted for. He said the committee would examine the outstanding amounts, payments already made, balances yet to be settled and steps taken by NMDPRA to recover the debts. The investigation, he added, is part of efforts to strengthen accountability and prevent statutory obligations to government agencies from piling up without effective recovery.
source: The cable
