NNPC’s ₦11.2tn: Where Did the Money Go?

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has come under renewed scrutiny following the disclosure of approximately ₦11.2 trillion in receivables from the Federation in its 2025 audited financial statements.

The figure has generated questions about how much Nigeria spends protecting its oil infrastructure against theft, vandalism and operational disruptions.

However, a closer examination of the financial disclosures reveals an important distinction: the ₦11.2 trillion was recorded as money owed to NNPC, covering government-related advances and asset-protection costs. It does not establish that the entire amount was paid to pipeline security contractors or spent during 2025.

What Does the ₦11.2 Trillion Represent?

According to NNPC’s audited accounts, the amount is classified under other receivables from the Federation.

These receivables include advance payments made on behalf of the government and costs associated with protecting the country’s oil and gas assets.

The company explains that an approved framework allows it to incur certain security-related expenses and charge them to the Federation.

In financial reporting, receivables represent amounts owed to an organisation. They are different from cash expenses recorded within a particular financial year.

Consequently, the ₦11.2 trillion figure cannot, on its own, show how much was transferred to contractors, how much represented advances or when the underlying transactions occurred.

What Happened to Earlier Energy Security Costs?

NNPC’s 2024 audited accounts recorded approximately ₦17.512 trillion in receivables from the Federation.

That figure included ₦8.672 trillion in energy security cost receivables and ₦8.840 trillion in other receivables.

Importantly, the energy security costs recorded in those accounts were connected to petrol price and foreign exchange arrangements, not simply payments for guarding oil pipelines.

NNPC recognised approximately ₦7.13 trillion in energy security expenses during 2024 but reported no new expense under that category in 2025.

The company said a reconciliation involving outstanding energy security receivables and government obligations, including royalties, taxes and dividends, was completed in September 2025.

These accounting distinctions matter because comparing the ₦11.2 trillion receivable in 2025 directly with the ₦7.13 trillion expense recorded in 2024 would mean comparing two different financial measures.

Who Received the Money?

One of the most significant unresolved questions concerns the actual recipients and purposes of the underlying payments.

The available disclosures do not provide a complete, transaction-level breakdown identifying how much of the ₦11.2 trillion relates specifically to pipeline surveillance contracts.

They also do not establish the exact amounts paid to individual security companies, the proportion representing government advances or the costs attributable to particular projects.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for greater transparency, demanding clarification on the security-related costs, recipients of payments and services delivered.

His demand adds to the wider debate over the accountability of petroleum-sector financial arrangements.

However, the absence of an itemised public breakdown should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that the money was misappropriated.

Did Nigeria Benefit From Oil Asset Protection?

NNPC has pointed to improvements in petroleum production and infrastructure security.

According to its 2025 financial results, crude oil and condensate production averaged 1.77 million barrels daily, the highest level recorded in five years.

The company has attributed improvements in pipeline availability to cooperation involving security agencies, government interventions and community-based surveillance.

These developments suggest progress in protecting petroleum infrastructure.

Nevertheless, higher production alone cannot establish the financial effectiveness of individual security contracts or explain the full ₦11.2 trillion receivable.

A more detailed assessment would require spending records, production-loss data, contract performance reports and independently verifiable outcomes.

What NNPC Still Needs to Explain

The central accountability issue is not simply whether security expenses were necessary but whether the public can trace the financial obligations recorded in the company’s accounts.

A comprehensive reconciliation would need to distinguish advance payments from asset-protection costs, identify contractors and payment recipients, establish the dates of transactions and explain which outstanding balances have already been settled.

Such disclosures would help determine how much was genuinely spent securing petroleum infrastructure and what remains recoverable from the government.

For now, the available financial records establish the existence of a substantial Federation-related receivable but do not provide sufficient detail to trace every naira to its ultimate recipient.

The bigger question, therefore, is not whether ₦11.2 trillion disappeared, but whether NNPC and the Federal Government can provide a clear, verifiable account of the obligations, transactions and results behind the figure.