The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has given President Bola Tinubu seven days to address allegations of wrongdoing in the oil industry.
The organisation is appealing to him to order anti-corruption agencies and Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to look into the loss of more than N26 billion.
The money was allegedly stolen, misappropriated, or missing from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund in 2021.
In a statement signed by Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare on February 1, 2025, SERAP issued a warning that, in the public interest, it will take legal action to force compliance if the government does not act within the allotted time.
“We would like it if the suggested actions were carried out within seven days of this letter being received and/or published. In the public interest, SERAP will take necessary legal action to force your government to comply with our request if we don’t hear back from you by then,” the letter stated.

Alleged financial mismanagement and corruption within the oil sector are highlighted in the 2021 annual audit report published by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation on November 13, 2024. According to the report, funds were either unaccounted for, mismanaged, or spent without due process.
SERAP said, “The accusations point to a serious breach of public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), the nation’s anti-corruption laws, and international anti-corruption commitments.”
The organisation demanded that the culprits be brought to justice right away and that any lost public cash be fully recovered and sent to the national Treasury.
Additionally, it called on the government to use the money it had recovered to reduce Nigeria’s budget deficit and debt.
Nigeria’s financial problems would be greatly alleviated if corruption in the oil industry were addressed, SERAP stressed.
Given the pervasive systemic corruption and the deeply ingrained culture of impunity among offenders, ordinary Nigerians have reaped relatively little benefit from the nation’s tremendous oil wealth, according to SERAP’s letter.
As important legal frameworks mandating prompt action from the government, the organisation mentioned Nigeria’s constitutional duties and international responsibilities, including the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
The letter went on to say that your government is obligated by Section 16(1) of the Constitution to “secure the maximum welfare, freedom, and happiness of every citizen based on social justice and equality of status and opportunity.”
SERAP reaffirmed its call for prompt and decisive action to look into the claims, bring charges against those found guilty, and retrieve money that has been stolen.
“The Nigerian people and the benefit of current and future generations should be the only beneficiaries of the nation’s wealth,” it said.