President Bola Tinubu has approved the cancellation of approximately 96% ($1.42bn) and 88% (N5.57tn) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC Ltd) outstanding debt to the Federation Account. The decision, based on a reconciliation committee’s report and formalized in a November 2025 NUPRC document, wipes clean legacy liabilities up to December 31, 2024, though new 2025 debts of over $56.8 million and N1.02 trillion remain.
This massive debt relief comes amid significant revenue shortfalls, with the NUPRC collecting only N660bn against a N1.2tn target in November 2025, and as a separate, long-running dispute simmers. The NNPC Ltd is currently locked in a stalemate with auditors Periscope Consulting, which alleges a $42.37bn under-remittance to the Federation Account between 2011 and 2017—a claim the state oil firm firmly rejects, leading FAAC to mandate a joint reconciliation.