SOCIO-ECONOMIC Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over alleged failure to account for and explain missing N500 billion, which it failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.

The suit followed recent allegations by the World Bank that out of the N1.1 trillion revenue from crude sales and other income in 2024, the NNPCL only remitted N600 billion, leaving a deficit of N500 billion unaccounted for.

In response to SERAP’s Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the NNPCL had claimed, through its lawyers, Afe Babalola and Co, that the FoI Act did not apply to it.

But in the suit number FHC/L/MSC/553/2025 filed at the weekend at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel the NNPCL to account for the alleged missing N500 billion, which it allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October 2024 and December 2024.

SERAP is also asking the court to direct and compel the NNPCL to invite appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate the spending and whereabouts of the said N500 billion and to ensure the prompt recovery and remittance of the money to the Federation Account.

In addition, the organisation is asking the court to direct and compel the NNPCL to identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil funds, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to appropriate anti-corruption agencies for investigation and prosecution.

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that the NNPCL has a responsibility to comply with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), the Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s international human rights and anti-corruption obligations in the exercise of its statutory functions.

SERAP also maintains that the missing oil revenues have further worsened the already precarious economy of the country and contributed to the high levels of deficit spending by the government and the country’s crippling debt crisis.

It alleges that the missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability, directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability.

According to the group, the Supreme Court had, in a recent judgment declared that the Freedom of Information Act ‘is applicable and applies to the public records in the Federation’, including those kept by the NNPCL.

In the suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms Oluwakemi Oni, and Ms Valentina Adegoke, the body said Nigerians continued to bear the brunt of the missing public funds from the NNPCL, which was meant for the economic development of the country. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.