Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN has threatened to sue the President of the Senate if he fails to initiate measures within 14 days to recover $123.17 billion and N66.4 billion allegedly owed to the Federation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other oil and gas companies.
Falana, in a letter dated October 28, 2026, urged the Senate President to facilitate the recovery of the funds and their remittance to the Federation Account, citing outstanding oil royalties, unremitted dividends from Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), alleged crude oil theft, unrecorded petroleum exports and other unpaid oil and gas revenues.
He also demanded the recovery of approximately $2.9 billion spent on the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, alleging that the foreign contractors engaged for the projects had breached their contractual obligations.
The lawyer warned that failure to initiate the necessary measures within 14 days of receiving the letter would compel him to approach the Federal High Court for an order directing the Senate President to discharge the duties of his office.
The letter was also copied to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
A major component of Falana’s demand is the alleged $62 billion in outstanding royalties which, according to him, accrued over 18 years because of the failure to implement provisions of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act.
He said his law firm discovered during its campaign for an amendment of the legislation that Section 16, which provided for an upward review of royalties whenever international crude oil prices exceeded $20 per barrel, had not been implemented.
Falana said the Federal Government had acknowledged that the failure to implement the law resulted in substantial revenue losses, but efforts to secure the collection of the outstanding royalties were unsuccessful.
He recalled that the governments of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states subsequently approached the Supreme Court to compel the Federal Government to recover the outstanding royalties.
According to him, the Supreme Court, in a consent judgment delivered on October 20, 2018, ordered the Federal Government to collect royalties that had accrued under the legislation over the 18-year period.
The court also directed that the 13 per cent derivation entitlement due to the plaintiff states should be paid upon recovery of the funds, in accordance with Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Falana said a committee constituted by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation subsequently determined the liabilities of the international oil companies and the amounts due to the oil-producing states, putting the outstanding royalties at $62 billion.
He further disclosed that Akwa Ibom and Rivers states instituted separate proceedings at the Federal High Court to establish their entitlements to portions of the amount.
According to the letter, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, now retired, awarded the two states approximately $3.3 billion, comprising $1.114 billion for Akwa Ibom and $2.258 billion for Rivers State.
The court also awarded post-judgment interest of 10 per cent until the judgment sums were fully paid.
In a separate judgment delivered on June 22, 2021, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court reportedly awarded Bayelsa State $951 million from the outstanding royalties.
Falana alleged that the Federal Government had yet to comply with the cited judgments.
The senior lawyer also urged the authorities to pursue the recovery of $29 billion allegedly linked to crude oil theft and improperly documented crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports.
He cited findings attributed to a team of Nigerian lawyers engaged by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which reportedly identified 60.2 million barrels of Nigerian crude oil discharged at a port in Philadelphia, United States, between 2011 and 2014.
The crude oil was valued at $12.7 billion.
Falana said the findings were submitted to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation but alleged that the Federal Government failed to prosecute the companies implicated in the report.
He said the NIMASA legal team subsequently instituted nine civil proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja and Lagos to recover the value of the allegedly stolen hydrocarbons and liquefied gas.
He also cited a 2016 investigation by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives, chaired by Johnson Agbonayinma, which reportedly found that $17 billion in crude oil and liquefied natural gas had been exported from Nigeria between 2011 and 2014 without proper records.
According to Falana, the shipments were discharged at the ports of Houston and Lake Charles in the United States.
He urged the Senate President to facilitate the recovery of the combined $29 billion through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Falana further alleged that the NNPCL had failed to remit $23.1 billion in dividends from NLNG to the Federation Account.
He explained that NLNG, incorporated in 1989, is jointly owned by the NNPCL, Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni International, with the NNPCL holding a 49 per cent stake on behalf of the Federal Government.
According to the letter, NLNG paid more than $47 billion in dividends to its shareholders over 26 years, with the Federal Government’s 49 per cent share amounting to $23.1 billion.
Falana alleged that the NNPCL failed to remit the amount to the Federation Account, contrary to Section 162 of the Constitution. He added that resolutions of the Senate and the House of Representatives calling for the remittance had been ignored.
The letter also cited the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s 2022/2023 Independent Oil and Gas Industry Report, which reportedly identified $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion in outstanding collectible revenues as of June 2024.
Falana said the report was publicly presented on September 27, 2024, and forwarded to the National Assembly in November of that year.
He urged lawmakers to work with the relevant agencies to recover the outstanding revenues.
On refinery rehabilitation, Falana said the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the Port Harcourt refineries in April 2021 and a further $1.48 billion for the Warri and Kaduna refineries in August of the same year.
The two approvals total $2.98 billion.
He noted that the NNPCL announced in December 2024 that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries had been substantially completed, while the Kaduna refinery was nearing completion.
However, the Warri refinery subsequently ceased operations in January 2025, while the Port Harcourt refineries were shut down for planned maintenance in May of that year.
Falana argued that the subsequent developments warranted an examination of whether the contractors had fulfilled their contractual obligations.
He urged the EFCC to recover the contract sums to enable the Federal Government to engage other contractors.
Explaining his involvement in the matter, Falana recalled that his law firm drafted and submitted a bill to the National Assembly in 2017 to amend the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act.
He said the bill was adopted, sponsored by a senator and passed first reading before the dissolution of the Eighth National Assembly.
According to him, the Ninth National Assembly subsequently adopted, modified and passed the legislation.
He recalled that the then Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had said the amendment would increase Nigeria’s annual revenue by at least $1.5 billion.
Falana maintained that recovering the outstanding funds would strengthen public finances and reduce the Federal Government’s reliance on external borrowing.
