The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to order an investigation into over ₦94.4 billion in public funds allegedly diverted, unremitted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent by the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
SERAP made the demand in a letter dated October 3, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and addressed to President Tinubu.
The organisation said the allegations were contained in the 2024 Volume 2 Annual Report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on August 7, 2026.
According to SERAP, the audit findings cover various periods between January 2023 and December 2024 and raise serious concerns over the management of petroleum revenues and gas-flaring penalties running into billions of naira.
SERAP urged Tinubu to direct the appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate the allegations and prosecute anyone found responsible where sufficient admissible evidence is established.
It also demanded the recovery and remittance to the Treasury of all public funds found to have been diverted, misapplied, improperly spent or otherwise unaccounted for.
SERAP said the MDGIF and NUPRC should also be directed to publish a detailed schedule showing the amounts due, collected, remitted and recovered, including the dates of transactions, institutions or officials responsible and the accounts into which the funds were paid.
The organisation said the Auditor-General’s findings showed that the MDGIF allegedly failed to remit ₦26.549 billion in revenue from the sale of petroleum products between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024.
“The Auditor-General expressed concern that ‘the money may have been diverted’, and recommended its recovery and remittance to the Treasury,” SERAP said.
The organisation also cited an alleged failure by the MDGIF to remit and report ₦12.480 billion in gas-flaring penalties for 2023.
According to SERAP, the Auditor-General raised concerns about the failure to collect and promptly remit the net revenue generated by NUPRC from gas flaring into the MDGIF account as required under Section 52(8) of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
The Auditor-General reportedly warned that the failure to remit gas-flaring penalties could create shortages of funds for environmental remediation and potentially contribute to civil crises arising from the non-remediation of environmental hazards.
SERAP further said the MDGIF engaged and paid a consultant ₦3.518 billion to recover gas-flaring penalties without presidential approval.
According to the organisation, the Auditor-General found no evidence of due process or due diligence in the engagement and expressed concern that the money may have been diverted.
The NUPRC was also accused, according to the audit findings cited by SERAP, of failing to remit ₦38.610 billion in gas-flaring penalties collected and due to the MDGIF.
SERAP said the Auditor-General again raised concerns over the risks that the failure to remit the money could pose to environmental remediation.
The organisation further alleged that the MDGIF failed to collect and account for ₦12.940 billion in revenue from the sale of natural gas in 2024.
The Auditor-General reportedly expressed concern that the money may have been diverted and recommended its recovery and remittance to the Treasury.
Other expenditures highlighted by SERAP include ₦261.852 million allegedly paid by the MDGIF to Transaction Advisors despite a lack of evidence that the consultants executed the work for which they were engaged.
The Auditor-General reportedly expressed concern that the money may have been diverted.
SERAP also cited an additional ₦65.8 million spent by the MDGIF to engage Transaction Advisors in August 2024 without due process.
The Auditor-General reportedly stated that the transaction “may have violated public procurement procedures” and recommended that the Executive Director of the MDGIF account for the expenditure.
SERAP said the findings point to repeated weaknesses in financial and administrative controls within the affected petroleum-sector institutions.
“The failure to properly account for billions of naira in petroleum-product revenues, natural-gas sales revenues and gas-flaring penalties undermines public confidence in the management of Nigeria’s petroleum resources,” the organisation said.
It added that the alleged failure to remit the funds created a serious risk that public money meant for lawful purposes, including environmental remediation and protection of affected communities, could have been lost, misapplied or improperly withheld.
SERAP also asked Tinubu to direct the MDGIF to submit and publish its audited financial statements for 2022, 2023 and 2024 and ensure that they are forwarded to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly.
“The audit findings reveal repeated failures of basic financial and administrative controls, including the failure to remit and account for public revenues, inadequate documentation, payments without evidence of work performed, procurement and consultancy arrangements without required approvals or due process, and failures to submit and publish audited financial statements,” SERAP said.
The organisation said the failure to publish audited financial statements for three consecutive financial years had also undermined effective legislative oversight and public scrutiny of the MDGIF’s financial management.
SERAP said the matter was particularly important because Tinubu also serves as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
“These findings concern petroleum-sector institutions and revenues over which the President, as Minister of Petroleum Resources, has a particular responsibility to ensure effective oversight, transparency and accountability,” it said.
SERAP added that the President’s dual role made it “especially important” for the Auditor-General’s findings concerning petroleum revenues and gas-flaring penalties to be promptly investigated.
“Anyone found responsible should be appropriately sanctioned and prosecuted where sufficient admissible evidence is established, irrespective of status, position or institutional affiliation,” SERAP said.
“Every naira identified in the Auditor-General’s report must be properly accounted for, and any oil funds found to have been diverted, misapplied, improperly spent or otherwise unaccounted for must be fully recovered and remitted to the Treasury.”
SERAP also cited Nigeria’s constitutional obligations under Sections 13, 14 and 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as well as the country’s commitments under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.
The organisation gave the government seven days from the receipt or publication of the letter to act on its demands.
SERAP warned that if it does not receive a response within the period, it “shall consider appropriate legal actions and other lawful measures” to compel the government, MDGIF, NUPRC and other relevant authorities to comply with its requests.