Tinubu Clears NNPC Debt Burden, Writes Off $1.42bn and ₦5.57trn in Legacy Liabilities
Story: written by Zara December 29,2025
President Bola Tinubu has given approval for the cancellation of a large portion of outstanding debts owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to the Federation Account, effectively eliminating about $1.42 billion in long-standing financial obligations.
Details of the decision are contained in a document from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which was presented at the November 2025 meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The debt relief followed recommendations by the Stakeholder Alignment Committee set up to reconcile outstanding liabilities between NNPC Ltd and the Federation. The approved write-off covers legacy obligations accumulated up to December 31, 2024.
According to the document, the cleared debts include liabilities arising from Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), domestic crude supply obligations, repayment agreements, modified carry arrangements, as well as joint venture and PSC royalty receivables.
The reconciliation exercise, carried out by the NUPRC, has already been reflected through accounting adjustments in the Federation Account, signaling formal closure of the affected legacy debts.
However, obligations incurred in 2025 between January and October were excluded from the approval and remain outstanding, with authorities noting that they are being closely monitored for recovery.
The document also revealed that a separate and long-running dispute over alleged under-remittance of $42.37 billion by NNPC Ltd between 2011 and 2017 is yet to be resolved. NNPC Ltd has continued to dispute the claim, maintaining that all revenues during the period were fully and properly remitted.
