Nigeria’s troubled oil sector has come under renewed scrutiny after the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order an immediate investigation into the alleged expenditure of about ₦5.9 billion on the rebranding of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The demand follows a striking admission by the company’s leadership that Nigeria had effectively been “lying to itself” for years about the state of its refineries, despite decades of costly rehabilitation projects and repeated assurances to the public.
In an open letter dated March 14, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP urged the President to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, alongside anti-corruption agencies to investigate the controversial spending.
The organisation specifically asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to identify officials who approved and disbursed the funds, as well as contractors who benefited from the payments.
SERAP also called for a review of the procurement process used for the rebranding exercise to determine whether the contract complied with public procurement laws and financial regulations.
₦5.9 Billion Rebranding Under Scrutiny
According to SERAP, reports indicate that about ₦2.9 billion was spent as incorporation expenses during the transformation of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into a limited liability company.
The organisation said the funds were reportedly drawn from petroleum product proceeds, while another ₦2.9 billion was charged against crude oil revenue by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) for the same transition process.
Combined, the expenditures total roughly ₦5.9 billion, a figure SERAP says raises serious transparency and accountability concerns.
“There ought to be full transparency and accountability regarding the reported ₦5.9 billion spent on rebranding NNPC to NNPCL,” the organisation said.
“Nigerians have the right to know who approved the expenditure, who received the money, and whether due process was followed.”
SERAP urged authorities to prosecute anyone found responsible for wrongdoing and recover any misused public funds.
The organisation also warned that if its recommendations are ignored within seven days, it may initiate legal action in the public interest.
Admission of “Self-Deception”
The controversy comes as the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Bayo Ojulari, acknowledged deep-rooted failures in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
Speaking at the Nigeria International Energy Summit, Ojulari said years of optimistic claims about the country’s refineries masked a harsh reality.
“For years, we told ourselves stories,” he said. “But the numbers never supported those stories.”
He described the decision to halt refinery operations as a deliberate break from what he called years of self-deception.
Port Harcourt Refinery Controversy
The admission comes months after NNPC announced that the Port Harcourt Refinery had resumed operations in November 2024 following a rehabilitation project estimated at $1.5 billion.
At the time, the company said the facility was operating at 70 percent capacity, with plans to increase output to 90 percent.
However, the refinery was shut down only weeks later for what the company described as routine maintenance.
As of mid-2025, operations had yet to resume, further reinforcing longstanding scepticism about the viability of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries.
Obasanjo’s Warning Revisited
The development has revived a previous public dispute between NNPC officials and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had earlier questioned claims that the country’s refineries could be successfully revived.
At the time, NNPC officials dismissed his comments and even invited him to tour the facilities.
But Ojulari’s recent remarks appear to validate those earlier doubts.
NNPC has now acknowledged that selling the refineries remains one of the options under consideration.
Decades of Spending, Little Output
Nigeria currently operates four state-owned refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, with a combined installed refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.
Yet the facilities have rarely functioned effectively for more than two decades.
In 2020 alone, NNPC reported spending ₦101.69 billion to maintain refineries that processed no crude oil for the entire year.
Between 2010 and 2023, Nigeria is estimated to have spent over ₦11 trillion on refinery repairs and turnaround maintenance, even as the country relied almost entirely on imported fuel.
Ojulari admitted the system had become unsustainable.
“We were running processes, not enterprises,” he said. “Money was going out, but value was not coming in.”
A Costly Cycle
According to Ojulari, internal reviews showed refinery operations had gradually evolved into a cycle where spending was rewarded more than performance.
Preventive maintenance culture collapsed while costly turnaround maintenance contracts became routine.
“These refineries mean a lot to Nigerians emotionally,” he said. “But emotion cannot replace truth.”
The Dangote Factor
Ojulari said the emergence of the privately owned Dangote Refinery had created the space for Nigeria to confront its refining failures.
“Whether you love Dangote or not, thank God it is working,” he said.
The massive private refinery has dramatically shifted Nigeria’s domestic refining landscape and exposed the long-standing inefficiencies of state-run facilities.
Rising Fuel Prices and Public Frustration
As global oil prices fluctuate amid geopolitical tensions, including conflict involving Iran, Nigerians continue to bear the consequences of decades of policy failures in the oil sector.
Fuel prices have surged repeatedly, deepening economic hardship for millions of citizens already struggling with inflation and declining purchasing power.
While other oil-producing nations benefit from rising crude prices, critics say Nigeria has little to show after years of mismanagement, failed refinery projects, and massive public spending.
With the country still heavily dependent on imported fuel and its state refineries largely idle, analysts warn that Nigeria’s oil wealth continues to generate more frustration than prosperity for its citizens.
