NNPC’s ₦11.2 Trillion Receivables Under Scrutiny as Oye Demands Independent Probe, Oil Security Cost Disclosure

Compliance concerns centre on financial transparency, public expenditure accountability and the need to reconcile oil infrastructure security costs with measurable results.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is facing renewed calls for financial scrutiny following demands by Dele Kelvin Oye, chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE), for an independent examination of its ₦11.201 trillion receivables from the Federation and greater disclosure of expenditure on protecting Nigeria’s oil and gas infrastructure.

Oye’s intervention follows the publication of NNPC’s 2025 audited financial statements, which show that other receivables from the Federation increased from ₦8.840 trillion in 2024 to ₦11.201 trillion at the end of 2025. He argues that the disclosures do not sufficiently distinguish physical asset-security expenditure from government advances and other financial obligations, limiting public scrutiny of how the amounts were incurred and settled.

The central compliance issue is the distinction between an outstanding receivable and actual expenditure incurred during a particular financial year. Oye cautioned that the ₦11.2 trillion figure should not be interpreted as money spent on guards, drones or pipeline patrols in 2025. Rather, it represents a year-end balance of amounts recorded as receivable from the Federation.

NNPC’s accounts indicate that an energy-security receivable of ₦8.672 trillion carried forward from 2024 was reconciled in September 2025 and offset against royalties, taxes and dividends due to the Federation. The company reported that no new energy-security expense was recognised in 2025 under the relevant financial statement note.

For Oye, the reconciliation does not eliminate the need for transparency. It reinforces the importance of explaining the composition of the remaining receivables, the legal authority for the underlying transactions and the evidence supporting the amounts claimed.

He has called for a publicly accessible breakdown separating physical oil and gas asset-security costs, supplier-of-last-resort and petrol price-under-recovery obligations, and advances to the Federation. Each category, he argues, should identify the beneficiaries, supporting invoices, payment status, amounts offset against government obligations and measurable outcomes.

 Financial performance raises further questions

Oye acknowledged NNPC’s reported profit after tax of ₦7.183 trillion in 2025, compared with ₦5.414 trillion in 2024, alongside peak crude oil and condensate production of 1.77 million barrels per day and a declared dividend of ₦5.8 trillion.

However, he noted that revenue declined by 24 per cent to ₦34.517 trillion, while gross profit fell by approximately 20 per cent to ₦9.374 trillion. He argued that the increase in reported profit warrants closer examination of other income and changes in impairment provisions recorded in the financial statements.

The compliance concern is not that these accounting movements necessarily indicate wrongdoing, but that investors and the public should be able to understand how they contributed to the company’s overall performance.

Oye also questioned the reduction in reported pipeline maintenance costs, which fell from ₦149.478 billion in 2024 to ₦13.813 billion in 2025. He cautioned, however, that this decline does not prove that physical maintenance collapsed, since other direct costs increased and reportedly included maintenance, repairs and infrastructure integrity management.

He called for an asset-integrity scorecard covering major petroleum pipelines, including planned and completed maintenance, incidents, downtime, expenditure and independent inspection findings.

Accountability beyond financial statements

The demands highlight a wider governance challenge in Nigeria’s petroleum sector: ensuring that expenditure linked to strategic national infrastructure can be traced from legal authorisation and payment through to operational results.

Oye’s proposed disclosures would allow independent reviewers to examine whether amounts claimed were properly supported, whether government offsets were accurately recorded and whether security spending delivered measurable improvements in infrastructure protection.

The request for an independent probe is a call for scrutiny, not evidence that the receivables are fraudulent or that the expenditure was improperly incurred. Establishing whether any irregularities occurred would require examination of the underlying records and responses from the relevant parties.

Ultimately, the issue is whether NNPC’s financial reporting provides sufficient detail to demonstrate how public obligations are calculated, reconciled and translated into operational outcomes. Greater transparency would strengthen confidence in the company’s accounts while helping policymakers assess the cost and effectiveness of protecting Nigeria’s petroleum infrastructure.

For Oye, the objective is not to dismiss NNPC’s reported achievements, but to ensure that major financial claims involving the Federation are supported by verifiable documentation and meaningful accountability.