President Bola Tinubu has approved the cancellation of about $1.42bn and N5.57tn being part of the debts the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited owed to the Federation Account.
According to information on Monday, the President’s approval was sequel to the recommendations of the Stakeholder Alignment Committee on the Reconciliation of Indebtedness between NNPC Ltd and the Federation. The committee reviewed the company’s royalty and lifting-related liabilities up to December 31, 2024.
It was learnt that out of previously reported debts totaling approximately $1.48bn and N6.33tn naira, about $1.42bn and N5.57tn naira were written off, representing roughly 96% and 88% of the respective dollar and naira-denominated debts.
It was furthered gathered that though legacy debts have been wiped, fresh statutory obligations arising in 2025 remain outstanding, with collections continuing to be made.
The wiping off about $1.42bn and N5.57tn was also in a document prepared by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission which presented at the November meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The report was, titled “Report of October 2025 Revenue Collection Presented at the Federation Account Allocation Committee Meeting Held on 18th November 2025.”
NUPRC in the section headed “Recovery from NNPC Ltd Outstanding Obligations,” explained that the debts earlier reported at the October 2025 FAAC meeting stood at “$1,480,610,652.58 and N6,332,884,316,237.13 for PSC, DSDP, RA & MCA Liftings and JV & PSC Royalty Receivables respectively.”
According to it, the Presidency had now approved that most of those balances be wiped from the Federation’s books.
The document stated, “However, the commission recently received a Presidential Approval to nil off the outstanding obligations of NNPC Ltd as at 31st December 2024 as submitted by the Stakeholder Alignment Committee on the Reconciliation of Indebtedness between NNPC Ltd and the Federation.
“Consequently, out of $1,480,610,652.58 and N6,332,884,316,237.13, the affected outstanding obligations that have been nil off are $1,421,727,723.00 N5,573,895,769,388.45. The commission has passed the appropriate accounting entries as approved.”