The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has opened a probe into a reported ₦432.07 billion debt owed to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and oil companies.

The investigation follows findings contained in the Auditor-General’s annual audit reports concerning unpaid petroleum-related obligations owed to the regulator.

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The Auditor-General’s 2023 Annual Audit Report put the combined liabilities of NNPCL and affected oil companies at ₦392.73 billion.

NNPCL accounted for ₦162.46 billion, while companies operating under the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, and Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, MEMAN, accounted for ₦230.27 billion.

The obligations relate to Balancing Allowance, National Transport Average, the one per cent Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, as well as legacy liabilities connected to importation, coastal and credit transactions.

The Auditor-General’s 2024 report subsequently placed the outstanding indebtedness at ₦432.07 billion, excluding liabilities attributed to NNPCL.

Further submissions from NMDPRA showed that 146 oil companies operating under DAPPMAN, MEMAN and MOMAN owed the regulator ₦327.53 billion as of 2025.

The committee is now seeking to establish how the liabilities accumulated, with some outstanding obligations reportedly dating back to 2017.

Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said the investigation was intended to establish the facts, protect public revenue and ensure that money owed to government was recovered.

“Any company invited by this committee must respect the people’s parliament of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by honouring the summons with appropriate representation and all relevant documents,” Salam said.

“We are not here to witch-hunt anybody; our responsibility is to establish the facts, protect public revenue and ensure that every naira due to government is properly accounted for,” he added.

The lawmakers are expected to examine how the debts were assessed, the periods covered, payments already made, outstanding balances and measures taken by NMDPRA to recover the funds.

The committee will also seek explanations over why liabilities accumulated over several years remained unpaid and whether enforcement measures were taken against companies in default.

The probe comes amid increased scrutiny of revenue collection and remittance in Nigeria’s petroleum sector following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.

The legislation established NMDPRA as the regulator responsible for Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations, including petroleum processing, transportation, distribution and domestic gas activities.

The committee stressed that the inquiry forms part of the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight responsibility and is not targeted at any particular company or institution.

Affected companies and the regulatory authority are expected to provide documentation detailing how the obligations arose, amounts recovered and balances that remain outstanding.

The outcome of the investigation could provide greater clarity on the scale of unpaid petroleum-related obligations and the effectiveness of existing mechanisms for collecting regulatory revenues.

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At its core, the ₦432bn NMDPRA debt probe reflects a broader push by lawmakers to strengthen accountability around public revenue and ensure that agencies responsible for collection take effective steps to recover outstanding funds.