The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to order the immediate publication of the forensic audit report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which reportedly details the misappropriation of over N6 trillion and identifies more than 13,000 abandoned projects across the region.
In a letter dated 5 July 2025 and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged Tinubu to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to investigate and prosecute those allegedly responsible for obstructing the release of the audit report, including top officials and politicians indicted in the findings.
SERAP specifically accused the previous administration led by former President Muhammadu Buhari of deliberately allowing the report to gather dust to shield powerful individuals from accountability.
“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 who are the primary victims of alleged corruption in the NDDC,” the group stated.
According to SERAP, the audit, which was commissioned to scrutinise the NDDC’s operations from 2000 to 2019, reportedly cost Nigerian taxpayers N1.4 billion and revealed prima facie evidence of grand corruption.
The report allegedly implicates senior government officials and lawmakers, including the wife of a former minister, who purportedly received N48 billion over a 12-month period under the guise of training Niger Delta women.
“Most of the contracts in the NDDC are also allegedly given out to members of the National Assembly,” SERAP added.
In the letter, the group emphasised the urgent need for the Tinubu administration to take a stand against impunity and demonstrate its commitment to transparency.
“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 for the allegations of corruption in the NDDC,” SERAP said.
The organisation issued a seven-day ultimatum to the President to comply with its demands or face legal action.
“If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions before the ECOWAS Court of Justice to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest,” the letter warned.
Pointing out the legal basis for its demands, SERAP cited Article 25 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which obligates state parties to criminalise obstruction of investigations into corruption, and Article 26, which mandates proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for such offences.
SERAP also referenced Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution, which requires the government to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.
The group expressed concern over the socio-economic impact of the alleged corruption in the NDDC, stating that despite the region’s oil wealth, ordinary citizens continue to suffer from poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and failing public services.
“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 noted.
According to SERAP, public schools and healthcare facilities in many parts of the Niger Delta are in shambles, lacking basic amenities and resources.
“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.
“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.”
SERAP insisted that publishing the report and prosecuting those indicted would be a crucial step in delivering justice, recovering stolen funds, compensating victims, and restoring public confidence in government anti-corruption efforts.
“The Tinubu administration has a constitutional and moral responsibility to make the report public, name and shame the perpetrators, recover looted funds, and ensure adequate compensation to the victims of this large-scale corruption,” it concluded.
ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE