ADC knocks Tinubu over cancellation of NNPCL debts

•Coalition says move unconstitutional, harmful to states, LGs’ finances

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of the cancellation of debts owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to the Federation Account.

The ADC, in a statement by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the President’s action was unconstitutional and harmful to the finances of states and local governments. The opposition expressed dismay over the executive fiat with which 96 per cent of the dollar-denominated debts and 88 per cent of the naira-denominated were cancelled without recourse to the parliament.

The party maintained that the action of the President violates Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution(as amended) and berated the National Assembly for its  silence in the face of alleged  “serious constitutional breach.’

“This action involved the presidential approval of the cancellation of legacy debts previously reported as outstanding, including those arising from production sharing contracts, domestic supply obligations, royalty receivables, and other legacy balances.

“According to official documents presented to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the President approved the removal from the Federation Account books of approximately $1.42 billion (USD) and N5.57 trillion (NGN) in legacy NNPC debt following a reconciliation of records with regulators. This directive covers outstanding liabilities accumulated up to 31 December 2024.

“The ADC is especially concerned that nearly 96 per cent of the dollar denominated legacy obligations and 88 per cent of the naira denominated legacy balances were written off by executive directive.  This write off was done without legislative or parliamentary approval or clear constitutional authority,” ADC stated.

The party further added: “The purported justification of ‘reconciliation’ cannot lawfully override the constitutional requirements for revenue sharing. The action effectively removes longstanding liabilities from public accounts, but at the cost of reducing the revenue base constitutionally distributable to States and Local Governments.

“It is important to emphasise that executive action cannot override the Constitution. Under Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), all revenues due to the Federation, including oil sector receipts and related obligations, must be paid into the Federation Account and shared among the Federal, State, and Local Governments.

“The Federation Account is not subject to executive discretion, no President, including this one, has the unilateral authority to cancel constitutionally due revenues, and any cancellation that reduces revenue due to the States and Local Governments without legislative authority is unconstitutional.

“We have said it before, and we will say it again, President Tinubu has repeatedly violated the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Even more worrying, however, is what appears to be active collusion or wilful surrender by the National Assembly. Ordinarily, these egregious assaults on the Constitution should be sufficient grounds to commence impeachment proceedings.

‘As a nation of laws, and not of men, no President can override what the Constitution protects. The Federation Account belongs to all tiers of government, and cannot be subject to the discretion of the Federal Executive or the President.”