ABUJA, Nigeria — Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has given the Senate 14 days to initiate measures to recover $123.17 billion and N66.4 billion in outstanding oil revenues allegedly owed to the Federal Government by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), international oil companies (IOCs) and indigenous oil firms.
Falana warned that he would institute legal proceedings against the National Assembly if it failed to act within the stipulated period, accusing the Federal Government of neglecting several court judgments and official reports establishing the outstanding liabilities.
In a letter dated October 28, 2026, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and copied to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, the senior lawyer demanded immediate action to recover the funds.
The letter, issued through his law firm, Falana & Falana’s Chambers, identified the outstanding revenues as unpaid royalties, taxes, dividends, proceeds of stolen crude oil and funds allegedly lost through failed refinery rehabilitation contracts.
According to Falana, the amounts were established through judgments of courts of competent jurisdiction and reports by agencies of the Federal Government.
“We wish to draw your attention to the relevant judgments of courts of competent jurisdiction and reports of some agencies of the Federal Government which have established that the government of the federation is owed the sum of $123.17 billion being outstanding royalties, taxes and dividends,” the letter stated.
He gave the National Assembly 14 days from receipt of the letter to commence recovery measures, threatening to approach the Federal High Court to compel the Senate leadership to discharge its constitutional responsibilities.
“If you fail to initiate legal measures for the recovery of the aforesaid huge funds belonging to the government of the federation within fourteen days of the receipt of this letter, we shall not hesitate to file the necessary processes in the Federal High Court with a view to compelling you to discharge the duty of your office,” he warned.
The first component of the outstanding revenue is $62 billion in royalties allegedly not collected from international oil companies over 18 years.
Falana traced the discovery to his firm’s campaign for the amendment of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act.
He said the firm discovered that public officials had failed to implement Section 16 of the Act, which provided for an upward review of royalties whenever international crude oil prices exceeded $20 per barrel.
According to him, the Federal Government acknowledged that the country had lost billions of dollars through the non-implementation of the provision but failed to recover the outstanding revenue.
The governments of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers States subsequently approached the Supreme Court to compel the Federal Government to collect the outstanding royalties.
Falana recalled that the Supreme Court, in a consent judgment delivered on October 20, 2018, ordered the Federal Government to collect royalties accumulated over 18 years under the Act.
The court also directed that the 13 per cent derivation due to the oil-producing states be paid to them upon recovery of the funds in accordance with Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Following the judgment, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation constituted a committee to determine the liabilities of the international oil companies and the amounts due to the oil-producing states.
Falana said the committee established that the outstanding royalties amounted to $62 billion.
However, after the oil companies reportedly ignored the Federal Government’s demand for payment, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States instituted separate proceedings at the Federal High Court.
The court, presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, ordered the payment of $3.3 billion to the two states, alongside 10 per cent post-judgment interest until the amounts were fully liquidated.
In another case, the Bayelsa State Government secured a judgment on June 22, 2021, when Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled in its favour over its claim to $951 million from the outstanding royalties.
Falana, however, alleged that the Federal Government had yet to comply with the judgments.
The second component is $29 billion in proceeds from allegedly stolen crude oil.
He said a team of Nigerian lawyers engaged by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) discovered that approximately 60.2 million barrels of crude oil allegedly stolen from Nigeria by international oil companies were discharged at the Port of Philadelphia in the United States between 2011 and 2014.
The crude oil was valued at $12.7 billion, according to the report submitted to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Falana said the Federal Government failed to prosecute the companies implicated in the report, prompting the NIMASA legal team to institute nine civil cases at the Federal High Court in Abuja and Lagos.
He also recalled that the House of Representatives established an ad hoc committee in 2016, chaired by Johnson Agbonayinma, to investigate undeclared crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports between 2011 and 2014.
The committee reportedly established that $17 billion worth of crude oil and liquefied natural gas had been exported from Nigeria without proper records, with the crude oil discharged at the ports of Houston and Lake Charles in the United States.
Falana urged the Senate to obtain the committee’s report from the Clerk of the House of Representatives and direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover the outstanding funds.
“Notwithstanding the pending civil cases filed by NIMASA at the Federal High Court, you may wish to direct the EFCC to embark on the recovery of the total sum of $29 billion from the indicted oil and shipping companies because they engaged in oil theft and other acts of economic sabotage,” he stated.
The third component is $23.1 billion in dividends from Nigeria LNG Limited allegedly withheld by the NNPCL.
Falana explained that Nigeria LNG Limited, incorporated in 1989 to produce liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids for export, has four shareholders.
They are the NNPCL, which holds 49 per cent on behalf of the Federal Government; Shell, with 25.6 per cent; TotalEnergies, with 15 per cent; and Eni International, with 10.4 per cent.
He said NLNG had paid more than $47 billion in dividends to its shareholders over the past 26 years, with the Federal Government’s 49 per cent entitlement amounting to $23.1 billion.
According to the lawyer, the NNPCL received the government’s share but failed to remit the money into the Federation Account as required by Section 162 of the Constitution.
He added that resolutions by both the Senate and the House of Representatives directing the company to remit the dividends had been ignored.
The fourth component comprises $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion in outstanding revenues owed by oil and gas companies, according to the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Falana said NEITI disclosed on September 27, 2024, in its 2022/2023 Independent Oil and Gas Industry Report that outstanding collectable revenues due to the Federal Government as of June 2024 stood at $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion.
He noted that copies of the report were forwarded to the Senate and House of Representatives in November 2024 in compliance with Section 3 of the NEITI Act.
“The National Assembly ought to assist NEITI to recover the said sum of $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion without any further delay,” he said.
The fifth component is $2.9 billion allegedly lost through the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri refineries.
Falana recalled that the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion in April 2021 for the rehabilitation of the two Port Harcourt refineries through a foreign contractor.
The project was scheduled for completion in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months.
In August 2021, the council also approved $1.48 billion for the rehabilitation of the Warri and Kaduna refineries by another foreign contractor, with completion expected in three phases over 33 months.
Falana said the NNPCL announced in December 2024 that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries had been substantially completed, while the Kaduna refinery was almost completed.
However, the company subsequently announced that the Warri Refinery stopped operating on January 25, 2025, following safety concerns involving its Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater.
The Port Harcourt refineries were also shut down for planned maintenance beginning May 29, 2025.
Falana argued that the foreign contractors had breached the terms of the rehabilitation agreements and urged the Senate to direct the EFCC to recover the $2.9 billion contract sum.
He said recovering the money would enable the Federal Government to award the rehabilitation contracts to competent contractors.
Concluding, Falana maintained that recovering the outstanding $123.17 billion and N66.4 billion would significantly reduce the Federal Government’s reliance on external borrowing and ease the burden of debt on the national economy.
He also defended his firm’s legal standing to demand the recovery, recalling that it drafted the bill for the amendment of the Deep Offshore and Production Sharing Contracts Act in 2017.
According to him, the bill was adopted and sponsored by a senator, passed through first reading in the Eighth National Assembly and was subsequently adopted, modified and passed by the Ninth National Assembly.
He recalled that then Senate President Ahmad Lawan had said the amendment would increase Nigeria’s revenue by at least $1.5 billion annually.
