ABUJA — The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has launched a formal legislative probe into the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) following audit findings from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) uncovering ₦432.29 billion in accumulated financial liabilities, uncollected statutory levies, and unremitted public funds.
The legislative inquiry follows the release of the OAuGF report detailing widespread internal control failures across federal agencies. The report highlighted that the downstream petroleum regulator failed to enforce the recovery of ₦431.01 billion in legacy National Transport Average (NTA) debts and equalization bridging allowances withheld by major petroleum marketing associations.
Lawmakers directed the leadership of the NMDPRA to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to account for the unrecovered debts, present full reconciliation records, and explain administrative failures in enforcing Section 47(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The audit findings detail that the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) accounts for ₦315.18 billion of the total liability (comprising ₦182.62 billion in NTA obligations and ₦132.56 billion in bridging allowance debts). The Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) accounts for ₦106.30 billion, while ₦9.53 billion represents unissued legacy debt in promissory notes handled by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Beyond the legacy bridging debts, the audit revealed that 14 petroleum marketing companies defaulted on ₦1.06 billion in statutory 0.5 percent wholesale levies mandated under the PIA to fund midstream regulatory operations. Additionally, the authority was cited for failing to remit ₦217.84 million in statutory Industrial Training Fund (ITF) contributions.
While NMDPRA management defended the ₦431.01 billion figure as “legacy receivables currently undergoing reconciliation,” the Auditor-General rejected the explanation as unsatisfactory, prompting the House Public Accounts Committee to intervene and mandate immediate recovery into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
