Subsidy Fraud: We'll drag your government to court, SERAP tells President Tinubu

A Lagos-based human rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), today, issued a threat to drag the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to court over alleged subsidy fraud. 

The group also urged the President to set up a presidential panel of enquiry to probe the allegations that US$2.1 billion and N3.1 trillion public funds of oil revenues and budgeted as fuel subsidy payments are missing and unaccounted for between 2016 and 2019, as documented by the Auditor-General of the Federation.

SERAP made the demand through a statement issued by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, who also asked President Tinubu to “Name and shame anyone suspected to be responsible for the alleged widespread and systemic corruption in the use of oil revenues and the management of public funds budgeted as fuel subsidy, and to ensure their effective prosecution as well as the full recovery of any proceeds of crime.”

SERAP also urged the President, "To promptly, thoroughly, independently, transparently and effectively probe all fuel subsidies paid by successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999, and to use any recovered proceeds of crime as palliatives to address the impact of any subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.”

Referring to its letter dated June 3, 2023, Oluwadare argued that, “There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these serious allegations. 

"There will be no economic growth or sustainability without accountability for these human rights crimes.

“Your government should urgently act to follow due process of law in any policy to remove fuel subsidy, ensure that suspected perpetrators of these crimes against Nigerians are brought to justice and full recovery of any missing public funds”.

Oluwadare further posited that arbitrarily removing fuel subsidies without addressing outstanding accountability issues in the alleged mismanagement of oil revenues and fuel subsidy payments would amount to punishing poverty and further impoverishing the poor while letting high-profile officials and non-state actors get away with their crimes.

While stating that any removal of fuel subsidies should not be used as a ploy to keep the poor in poverty while those who allegedly stole oil revenues and fuel subsidy payments keep their ill-gotten wealth, Oluwadare maintained that allegations of corruption in oil revenues and fuel subsidies payments suggest that the poor have rarely benefited from the use and management of the revenues and payments.

The group declared that the poor and socio-economically vulnerable Nigerians should not be made to continue to pay the price for the stealing of the country’s oil wealth while state and non-state actors pocket public funds, adding that, “We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 3 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. 

"If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.

“The proposed panel should be headed by a retired justice of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal, and its members should include people with proven professional records, and of the highest integrity that can act impartially, independently, and transparently.

“A comprehensive approach that prioritizes accountability and full recovery of missing crude oil and public funds is required to address the problems of the implementation of fuel subsidy since 1999.

“According to the audited reports between 2016 and 2019 by the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit N663,896,567,227.58 into the Federation Account. The Auditor-General fears that the money may be missing.

“The NNPC also reportedly failed to account for the allocation of crude oil to refineries in 2019. 107,239,436.00 barrels of crude oil were lifted as domestic crude without any document. The Auditor-General fears that the crude valued at N55,891,009,960.63 may have been diverted.

“The NNPC in 2019 also failed to remit N1,955,354,671,268.66 and N55,157,702,848.74 of generated revenues into the Federation Account, contrary to Section 162(1) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended]. The Auditor-General fears that the money may have been diverted.

“The NNPC also failed to account for N4,572,844,962.25 of ‘domestic gas receipts’, thereby ‘reducing the distributable revenue in the Federation account.’ The Auditor-General wants the money remitted.

“The NNPC also in 2019 failed to account for 22,929.84 litres of PMS pumped from refineries and valued at N7,056,137,180.00. The Auditor-General fears that the PMS may have been diverted.

“The NNPC also ‘illegally classified’ 239,800 barrels of crude oil valued at N5,498,045,220 as ‘crude oil losses.’ The Auditor-General fears that the crude oil may have been diverted.

“The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in 2019 also reportedly failed to remit US$1,278,364,595.49 in revenue to the Federation Account. The money was deducted by the NNPC from the Oil and Gas Royalty assessed by the DPR.

“The DPR in 2019 also deducted N19,840,081.29 as ‘stamp duty’ payments from contractors and consultants, but the DPR instantly paid back the money to the contractors and consultants instead of remitting it to the treasury.

“The DPR in 2019 also paid N137,225,973.35 to contractors and consultants for various contracts and consultancies but failed to deduct stamp duty. The Auditor-General wants the money recovered.

“The DPR also paid N11,856,088,271.92 as salaries for 2019 but failed to deduct N118,560,882.72 as a contribution of 1% Industrial Training Fund (ITF). The DPR in 2019 also failed to transfer a $ 35,738,342.95-year balance. The Auditor-General wants the money recovered and remitted.

“The DPR in 2018 also withdrew without any explanation US$759,387,755.10 from the DPR Signature Bonus Account rather than paid the money into the Federation Account”.

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