Oil Marketers Owe NMDPRA N431bn in Legacy Levies — Auditor-General
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is under fresh scrutiny after the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation uncovered over N432 billion in unpaid debts and statutory levies involving petroleum marketers.
The bulk of the liabilities, N431.01 billion, consists of legacy National Transport Average and bridging allowance debts owed to the regulator by marketers. This is according to the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in MDAs released on Monday.
The report showed that Federal Government MDAs were linked to at least N1.39 trillion in recurring financial irregularities and breaches of public finance regulations in 2024.
For the NMDPRA, the N431.01 billion legacy debt accounted for virtually all of the N432.29 billion in major outstanding financial issues identified for the authority.
Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria: N315.18bn, Bridging allowance: N132.56bn, National Transport Average: N182.62bn, Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria: N106.30bn, and Unissued legacy promissory notes by Federal Ministry of Finance: N9.53bn.
The Auditor-General noted that as of August 2025, there was no evidence that the position had changed and no justification was provided for the non-recovery.
“The above anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority,” the report stated.
The NMDPRA acknowledged the liabilities, describing them as “legacy receivables due from marketers.”
Management said efforts were underway to engage marketers for reconciliation and sign-off.
However, the Auditor-General rejected the explanation as “unsatisfactory” and recommended that the Authority Chief Executive explain the non-recovery to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly and recover the money to the Treasury.
The report also found that 14 oil marketers owed N1.06 billion in unpaid 0.5% statutory levies on petroleum products as of January 24, 2025. The NMDPRA said it had recovered N3.19 billion of N4.25 billion owed for 2024.
Additionally, the authority failed to remit N217.84 million to the Industrial Training Fund in 2024, representing 1% of its N21.78 billion payroll. The NMDPRA said it was in the process of settling the obligation.
Some major oil marketers denied owing the agency, insisting their obligations had been cleared.
The findings come amid growing calls for stricter accountability in the management of public funds.