Publish NDDC Audit Report, Prosecute Obstructors, SERAP Tells Tinubu
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi to investigate those allegedly responsible for obstructing the publication of the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission.
According to SERAP, this report, which covered the period between 2000 and 2019, was commissioned under former President Muhammadu Buhari and submitted to his administration in September 2021.
It was said that despite public interest and repeated demands, the audit findings remain unpublished.
In a letter dated July 5, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP called on Tinubu to also instruct relevant anti-corruption agencies to identify and prosecute those who allegedly blocked the release of the report.
The group said, “While the audit report may make uncomfortable reading for the indicted officials and politicians, your government has a constitutional responsibility to publish it and act upon its recommendations.”
It described the continued failure to release the report as a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice and deny the people of the Niger Delta accountability for alleged corruption and abandoned projects.
The group said,”The forensic audit report of the NDDC can no longer be left to gather dust.
“The continued failure to publish the audit report undermines public trust and confidence, particularly of victims of corruption in the Niger Delta who have waited far too long for justice and accountability.”
SERAP warned that if the Tinubu administration fails to act within seven days of receiving the letter, it would take appropriate legal actions before the ECOWAS Court of Justice to compel the government to comply.
According to the group, the audit allegedly reveals the embezzlement of over N6tn and over 13,000 abandoned projects across the Niger Delta region.
It also claimed that some high-ranking government officials and politicians obstructed the report’s release to shield themselves from prosecution.
The organisation blamed the Buhari administration for failing to act on the report after receiving it.
The letter partly read,”The fact that the forensic audit undertaken at public expense has been gathering dust on an official’s desk for several years shows the failure of the Buhari administration to deliver justice for the people of the Niger Delta.
“The failure to publish the report and fully implement its recommendations would seem to suggest that the forensic audit was not commissioned to provide transparency and accountability, but merely as a ruse to defer and avoid it.
“Victims of grand corruption in the Niger Delta would lose faith in public investigations of corruption if the audit report is not immediately published and its recommendations acted upon.
“Victims would like to see the recommendations and what progress has been made to make the NDDC fit for purpose.”
The organisation further alleged that contracts within the commission were largely awarded to members of the National Assembly, while a former minister’s wife reportedly collected N48bn in 12 months for a women’s training scheme.
SERAP stated,” Obstructing the release of the forensic audit report or hiding it is a grave and wilful attempt to obstruct, prevent and pervert the course of justice.
“Delaying the implementation of its recommendations has enabled suspected perpetrators to evade justice and denied access to justice for victims.”
It added that despite Nigeria’s vast oil wealth, ordinary citizens in the Niger Delta have seen little benefit due to widespread corruption and mismanagement in the NDDC.
“The missing N6 trillion and over 13,000 abandoned projects in the Niger Delta have continued to have a negative impact on the human rights of Nigerians, undermining their access to basic public goods and services, such as education, healthcare, and regular and uninterrupted electricity supply,” the letter stated.
It also noted that about N1.4bn was reportedly paid to auditors for the exercise, and that keeping the report hidden raises concerns about the sincerity of the government’s anti-corruption agenda.
Citing sections of the Nigerian Constitution and the UN Convention against Corruption, SERAP argued that the government is obligated to investigate and penalise any interference with the course of justice, and to prosecute those indicted in the report.
“Bringing those suspected to be responsible for the grand corruption documented in the NDDC forensic report and recovering any proceeds of corruption would advance the right of Nigerians to restitution, compensation, and guarantee of non-repetition,” the group said.
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