Oil marketers owe the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority N431.01bn in outstanding petroleum-sector debts, according to the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The debt, which consists mainly of legacy National Transport Average obligations, bridging allowances and other outstanding liabilities, was highlighted in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses.
The report said the debt remained largely unrecovered years after it was incurred, with auditors finding no evidence of significant improvement as of August 2025.
The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria accounted for N315.18bn of the outstanding amount. This includes N132.56bn in bridging allowance debt and N182.62bn in National Transport Average obligations.
The Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria was listed as owing N106.30bn, while another N9.53bn was identified as a legacy obligation involving promissory notes from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The Auditor-General attributed the failure to recover the funds to weaknesses in the NMDPRA’s internal control system and warned that the situation could expose government revenue to possible loss or diversion.
The NMDPRA acknowledged the debt but described it as a legacy receivable owed by marketers. The authority said it had been engaging the affected companies to reconcile the figures and confirm the outstanding balances.
However, the Auditor-General rejected the response as unsatisfactory and maintained that the audit finding would remain until the recommended actions were implemented.
The audit office directed the NMDPRA’s Chief Executive to explain the failure to recover the N431.01bn before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly. It also ordered the authority to recover the money and remit it to the Treasury.
The report further identified N1.06bn in unpaid statutory levies owed by 14 oil marketers.
Under the Petroleum Industry Act, the NMDPRA is entitled to collect a levy of 0.5 per cent of the wholesale value of petroleum products sold in Nigeria.
The authority said it had recovered N3.19bn out of N4.25bn in outstanding levies for January to December 2024 after reconciliation exercises. It said the remaining N1.06bn was being pursued through demand notices issued to the affected marketers.
The Auditor-General sustained the finding on the outstanding balance and directed the regulator to recover and remit the funds.
The NMDPRA was also faulted for failing to remit N217.84m to the Industrial Training Fund. The amount represents one per cent of the authority’s N21.78bn payroll for 2024.
The regulator said it was working to settle the obligation and would submit evidence of payment after the remittance. The Auditor-General, however, maintained that the issue would remain unresolved until proof of payment was provided.
The latest findings have increased pressure on the NMDPRA to improve its revenue collection and internal controls while recovering billions of naira in outstanding petroleum-sector obligations.
Some major oil marketers contacted over the matter, however, disputed the reported debts and maintained that they had already settled their obligations to the authority.
