FG Writes Off $1.42bn, N5.57tn NNPC Debt After Reconciliation
By Naija Enquirer Staff
President Bola Tinubu has approved the cancellation of a substantial portion of debts owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to the Federation Account, wiping off approximately $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion following a reconciliation of records between both parties.
The approval is contained in a document prepared by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and presented at the November meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The report, titled “Report of October 2025 Revenue Collection Presented at the Federation Account Allocation Committee Meeting Held on 18th November 2025,” disclosed that NNPC’s outstanding obligations previously reported stood at $1.48 billion and N6.33 trillion.
According to the NUPRC, the Presidency subsequently approved that most of these balances be removed from the Federation’s books after a review by the Stakeholder Alignment Committee on the Reconciliation of Indebtedness between NNPC Ltd and the Federation.
“Consequently, out of $1,480,610,652.58 and N6,332,884,316,237.13, the affected outstanding obligations that have been nilled off are $1,421,727,723.00 and N5,573,895,769,388.45,” the document stated.
An analysis of the figures shows that the directive eliminated about 96 percent of the dollar-denominated debt and roughly 88 percent of the naira-denominated obligations, effectively resolving long-standing disputes over NNPC’s legacy liabilities up to December 31, 2024.
The commission confirmed that the necessary accounting entries had already been passed in line with the presidential approval.
However, the report noted that fresh obligations incurred in 2025 remain outstanding. Statutory debts arising between January and October 2025 were put at $56.81 million and N1.02 trillion.
Of this amount, the NUPRC said $55 million had been recovered in the month under review, leaving a balance of $1.8 million and N1.02 trillion still outstanding.
Despite the debt relief, the commission acknowledged challenges in meeting its revenue targets. Against an approved monthly target of N1.204 trillion for November 2025, actual collections stood at N660.04 billion, resulting in a shortfall of N544.76 billion.
Royalty revenues, which form the bulk of upstream income, also fell significantly below projections. Approved monthly royalty collections were N1.14 trillion, but actual receipts amounted to N605.26 billion.
Cumulatively, as of November 2025, total approved revenue stood at N13.25 trillion, while actual collections were N7.60 trillion, leaving a gap of N5.65 trillion.
The development comes amid renewed scrutiny of oil revenue remittances, following ongoing disputes between NNPC Ltd and Periscope Consulting, an audit firm engaged by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to review alleged under-remittance of oil revenues between 2011 and 2017.
NNPC has consistently rejected the audit findings, insisting that all crude oil proceeds and associated revenues were fully accounted for.
The presidential write-off of legacy debts is expected to clarify the Federation’s financial position, even as current liabilities continue to be monitored for recovery.
