Nigeria: N431bn NMDPRA Debt Faces Dispute as Marketers Deny Owing Regulator

The status of N431.01bn listed as owed to Nigeria’s petroleum regulator is now disputed, with the Auditor-General for the Federation insisting that the debt has not been recovered, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) treating it as legacy receivables and some major marketers denying that they still owe the agency.

The disagreement emerged from the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The report said there was no evidence by August 2025 that the N431.01bn indebtedness had changed.

The amount relates to National Transport Average, bridging allowance and other legacy obligations involving petroleum marketers.

But the audit record does not present a single position on the debt. NMDPRA acknowledged the amount but said it had been engaging affected companies to reconcile their accounts, while some major marketers contacted for comments said they had already cleared their obligations.

Three positions emerge over N431bn

The largest amount linked to the disputed debt is N315.18bn attributed to the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria.

The figure comprises N132.56bn in bridging allowance debt and N182.62bn in National Transport Average obligations.

The Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria was listed with N106.30bn. Another N9.53bn was recorded as an unissued legacy debt in promissory notes by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The Auditor-General said the N431.01bn represented accumulated indebtedness owed to NMDPRA as of May 2023.

Auditors then examined the position again in August 2025 and said they had found no evidence that the amount had changed.

They also said there was no justification for the failure to recover the money from the third parties involved.

NMDPRA gave a different account of the situation.

“Management notes that the sum of N431,012,935,018.88 represents a legacy receivable due from marketers. Efforts have been made to engage the affected marketers for reconciliation and sign-off of the outstanding balances,” the authority said.

The Auditor-General rejected that explanation, saying the management response was unsatisfactory and that the audit finding would stand until its recommendations were carried out.

The disagreement therefore goes beyond the size of the debt. It also raises questions about which balances are still valid after reconciliation between the regulator and the companies involved.

Some major oil marketers contacted for comments denied owing NMDPRA, saying their obligations to the agency had been cleared.

The supplied audit material does not provide the names of those marketers or details of the payments they cited.

Other unpaid obligations also under review

The N431.01bn was not the only financial issue identified at NMDPRA.

The audit found N1.06bn in unpaid statutory levies involving 14 oil marketers as of January 24, 2025.

NMDPRA said the figure was the unpaid part of N4.25bn in 0.5 per cent Authority Levy covering January to December 2024. It said N3.19bn had already been recovered after reconciliation exercises.

“The remaining balance of N1.06bn is being pursued through Demand Notices issued to the defaulting marketers.”

The Auditor-General sustained the finding over the N1.06bn and directed that the outstanding money be recovered and paid into the Treasury.

NMDPRA also had N217.84m in unpaid Industrial Training Fund contributions in 2024. The authority said it was settling the amount and would provide evidence of payment after the remittance.

The Auditor-General again found that response unsatisfactory.

The audit placed these issues within a larger picture of financial weaknesses across federal agencies. It identified N1.39tn in 30 recurring financial irregularities, control failures and breaches of public finance rules involving government institutions in 2024.

Unrecovered debts accounted for N882.75bn, about 63 per cent of that total. The Transmission Company of Nigeria had the largest share, at N446.70bn.

The unresolved question is how much of the N431.01bn can be confirmed after reconciliation with the affected marketers and recovered for government.

The Auditor-General recommended that the authority’s chief executive explain the non-recovery to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees and recover and remit the money to the Treasury.