Falana seeks recovery of $123bn in oil funds

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has called for the recovery of more than $123 billion and N66.4 billion allegedly owed to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other oil and gas companies. Falana, in a letter dated October 28, 2026, addressed to the Senate President and copied to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, urged the authorities to initiate measures to recover the funds, which he said comprised outstanding oil royalties, proceeds of alleged crude oil theft, unpaid dividends, taxes and other revenues.

The senior lawyer warned that failure to initiate recovery measures within 14 days of receiving the letter would prompt his firm to institute legal proceedings at the Federal High Court to compel the relevant authorities to act. The letter, signed by Falana, outlined five categories of alleged outstanding funds and cited court judgments, government reports and legislative investigations in support of the demand.

On royalties, Falana said an estimated $62 billion had remained uncollected from international oil companies over 18 years following the non-implementation of provisions of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act. He cited a Supreme Court consent judgment delivered on October 20, 2018, directing the Federal Government to collect outstanding royalties under the law and pay oil-producing states their 13 per cent derivation entitlements upon recovery.

According to the letter, the Federal High Court subsequently entered judgments in favour of Akwa Ibom and Rivers states for a combined $3.3 billion, while Bayelsa State obtained a separate judgment for $951 million. Falana alleged that the Federal Government had yet to comply with the judgments. On alleged crude oil theft and undeclared exports, he cited findings attributed to a team of Nigerian lawyers engaged by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, which reportedly identified about 60.2 million barrels of crude oil, valued at $12.7 billion, allegedly discharged at a port in Philadelphia, United States, between 2011 and 2014.

He also referred to a House of Representatives ad hoc committee’s investigation into undeclared crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports during the same period. According to the letter, the committee found that oil and gas exports worth $17 billion had been shipped without proper records. Falana urged the authorities to pursue the recovery of the combined $29 billion from the companies allegedly involved, while acknowledging that civil cases filed by NIMASA were pending before the Federal High Court.

The lawyer further alleged that NNPCL had failed to remit $23.1 billion in dividends attributable to the Federal Government’s 49 per cent stake in Nigeria LNG Limited to the Federation Account. He said NLNG had paid more than $47 billion in dividends to its shareholders over 26 years, with the Federal Government’s share channelled through NNPCL. Falana argued that the alleged failure to remit the funds contravened Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

He added that resolutions of the Senate and House of Representatives calling for the remittance had not been implemented. The letter also cited the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s 2022/2023 oil and gas industry report, which reportedly put outstanding collectible revenues due to the Federal Government at $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion as of June 2024.

Falana urged the National Assembly to support NEITI in recovering the outstanding amounts. On refinery rehabilitation, he called for the recovery of about $2.9 billion paid under contracts for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries. He said the Federal Executive Council approved a $1.5 billion contract in April 2021 for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refineries and another $1.48 billion in August 2021 for the Warri and Kaduna facilities.

Citing NNPCL’s subsequent announcements about the refineries’ operational status, Falana alleged that the foreign contractors had breached the terms of their contracts and urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate and pursue recovery of the contract sums. He argued that recovering the money would enable the Federal Government to engage competent contractors to undertake the rehabilitation projects.

Falana said the recovery of the alleged outstanding revenues would reduce the need for further foreign borrowing by the Federal Government and state governments. He also argued that his firm had sufficient grounds to pursue legal action, citing its involvement in preparing a bill to amend the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act.

The bill, he said, was subsequently adopted, modified and passed by the National Assembly. The letter’s stated totals, however, contain an apparent discrepancy: while its heading and opening paragraphs cite $123.17 billion, the concluding paragrap