The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order an investigation into more than ₦94.4 billion in petroleum-sector funds that it says were allegedly unremitted, unaccounted for, irregularly spent or otherwise flagged in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s latest findings.

SERAP made the demand in a letter dated October 3, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare. The organisation said the issues were contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Volume II Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, covering various transactions up to December 31, 2024.

The organisation wants the appropriate anti-corruption authorities to examine the findings, establish what happened to the affected funds and recover any money ultimately found to have been improperly withheld, spent or diverted.

SERAP also called for anyone found culpable to face prosecution where sufficient admissible evidence exists. It stressed that the audit findings should be investigated rather than treated as proof of criminal wrongdoing.

Among the issues highlighted by SERAP is an alleged ₦26.549 billion in petroleum-product sales revenue that it said the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) failed to remit between January 2022 and December 2024. SERAP said the Auditor-General recommended recovery and remittance of the money to the Treasury after expressing concern that it might have been diverted.

The organisation also cited ₦12.480 billion in gas-flaring penalties for 2023 that it said was not remitted and reported by MDGIF.

Another ₦38.610 billion was identified in SERAP's account of the audit findings as gas-flaring penalties collected by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) but reportedly not remitted to MDGIF.

SERAP said the Auditor-General warned that delays or failures in remitting gas-flaring penalties could reduce funds available for environmental remediation and increase the risks associated with unaddressed environmental problems.

The group further raised questions over a reported ₦3.518 billion payment by MDGIF to a consultant engaged to recover gas-flaring penalties. According to SERAP's account of the audit findings, the engagement lacked presidential approval and evidence of due process or due diligence.

Two other expenditures highlighted by the organisation were ₦261.852 million reportedly paid to Transaction Advisers without evidence of work performed and another ₦65.8 million spent on Transaction Advisers in August 2024, which SERAP said the Auditor-General found had not followed due process.

SERAP also cited an alleged ₦12.940 billion in revenue from natural-gas sales in 2024 that it said MDGIF failed to collect and account for. The organisation said the Auditor-General recommended recovery and remittance of the funds.

However, the petroleum-sector institutions have previously challenged the interpretation of the audit findings, particularly those involving gas-flaring penalties.

In September, MDGIF, a directorate of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), rejected the suggestion that the reported discrepancies represented missing or unaccounted-for gas-flaring revenue.

NMDPRA said the collection of gas-flaring penalties is the responsibility of NUPRC, while MDGIF receives its statutory allocation through the Federation Account process. It argued that differences identified in the audit reflected timing and reconciliation issues involving several government agencies rather than missing funds.

The authority said NUPRC collects the penalties and remits them into the Federation Account, after which allocations are made to MDGIF through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

MDGIF also said it had formally written to the Office of the Auditor-General, providing relevant FAAC records and requesting a review of the audit position. It maintained that its responsibility is to receive statutory revenues rather than collect gas-flaring penalties.

That response means the ₦94.4 billion figure should be understood as the value of financial queries and alleged irregularities highlighted from the audit findings and cited by SERAP, rather than a confirmed amount of money proven to have been stolen or diverted.

SERAP is nevertheless calling for the issues to be independently investigated and for the government to publish details of the affected transactions.

The organisation wants MDGIF and NUPRC to provide a clear breakdown showing the amounts due, collected, remitted and recovered, together with transaction dates, responsible institutions or officials and the accounts into which the funds were paid.

It has also asked Tinubu to direct MDGIF to submit and publish its audited financial statements for 2022, 2023 and 2024 and ensure that they are forwarded to the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committees, in line with the Auditor-General's recommendations.

SERAP said greater transparency is particularly important because some of the disputed funds relate to gas-flaring penalties, which are connected to environmental remediation and the management of environmental impacts in affected communities.

The organisation has given the government seven days to respond to its demands. It warned that it could pursue legal and other lawful measures if the requested action is not taken.

The latest demand adds another layer to the continuing scrutiny of petroleum-sector finances following the publication of the Auditor-General's report. The audit queries, SERAP's call for investigation and the subsequent response from MDGIF/NMDPRA now form part of a dispute that may require further reconciliation and official clarification.

For now, the central issue is not simply whether money is missing, but whether the amounts identified in the audit can be fully reconciled and whether any public funds were improperly withheld, spent or otherwise mishandled.

Any prosecution or recovery would ultimately depend on the findings of competent investigative and oversight authorities.

Reporting by TalkNaijaMedia