₦5.9bn Rebranding Scandal: SERAP Drags NNPCL to Court

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has instituted a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, over the company's alleged failure to provide a detailed account of the approximately ₦5.9 billion expended on the incorporation, transition, and rebranding of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to the NNPCL. According to SERAP, the NNPC reportedly paid ₦2.9 billion from petroleum product proceeds for incorporation expenses, while the National Petroleum Investment Management Services also charged ₦2.9 billion to crude oil revenue for the same purpose, bringing the total expenditure to ₦5.9 billion. The organisation, in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, is seeking an order to compel the NNPCL to provide a comprehensive reconciliation statement detailing the specific financial transactions relating to the ₦5.9 billion expenditure. This includes the identities of the contractors involved and how the funds were utilised for the rebranding of the NNPC to the NNPCL. SERAP is also asking the court to direct the NNPCL to disclose the names and official positions of the government officials who authorised and approved the release and expenditure of the ₦5.9 billion, and to clarify whether the expenditure complied with applicable procurement laws and due-process requirements. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo, noted that the Senate Committee on Public Accounts had raised concerns over the expenditure described as incorporation and transition costs during the transformation process. The committee described the spending of the ₦5.9 billion as excessive, unjustifiable, and deserving of further explanation, investigation, and legislative scrutiny in the public interest. SERAP argued that there is a legitimate public interest in the disclosure of the details sought, adding that the NNPCL has a legal responsibility to explain whether the ₦5.9 billion expenditure represents value for money, constitutes lawful spending of public funds, and complies with applicable due process requirements. The transformation of the national oil company from NNPC to NNPCL followed the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, 2021, which required it to become a commercially oriented limited liability company fully owned by the federal government. SERAP cited constitutional and international provisions, including Section 13 and Section 15(5) of the Constitution, as well as Articles 5 and 9 of the UN Convention against Corruption and Article 21 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to support its arguments. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.