The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has called on 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, the report, covering the period between 2000 and 2019, was commissioned under former President Muhammadu Buhari and submitted to his administration in September 2021.
Despite significant public interest and repeated demands, the audit findings remain unpublished.
In a letter dated July 5, 2025, and signed by Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP urged Tinubu to also instruct relevant anti-corruption agencies to identify and prosecute those who allegedly blocked the report’s release.
The group said, “While the audit report may make uncomfortable reading for indicted officials and politicians, your government has a constitutional responsibility to publish it and act upon its recommendations.”
SERAP 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 forensic audit report of the NDDC can no longer be left to gather dust,” it insisted.
‘The continued failure to publish the audit undermines public trust and confidence, particularly among victims of corruption in the Niger Delta who have waited too long for justice and accountability.”
The group warned that if the Tinubu administration fails to act within seven days of receiving the letter, it will initiate legal proceedings before the ECOWAS Court of Justice to compel the government to comply.
According to SERAP, the audit allegedly uncovered the embezzlement of over N6 trillion and more than 13,000 abandoned projects across the Niger Delta.
It claimed that some high-ranking government officials and politicians obstructed the report’s release to shield themselves from prosecution and blamed the Buhari administration for failing to act after receiving the report.
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 implement its recommendations suggests the audit was commissioned not for transparency or accountability, but merely as a ruse to defer and avoid them.
“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. They deserve to see the recommendations and what progress has been made to make the NDDC fit for purpose.”
SERAP further alleged that contracts within the commission were largely awarded to members of the National Assembly, and that a former minister’s wife reportedly collected N48 billion within 12 months for a women’s training scheme.
“Obstructing the release of the forensic audit report or hiding it is a grave and wilful attempt to pervert the course of justice,” the group added.
“Delaying its implementation has allowed suspected perpetrators to evade justice and denied victims access to justice.”
Despite Nigeria’s vast oil wealth, SERAP said ordinary Niger Delta citizens 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 continue to negatively impact the human rights of Nigerians, undermining their access to basic services such as education, healthcare, and electricity,” the letter stated.
It noted that about N1.4 billion was reportedly paid to auditors for the exercise and argued that keeping the report hidden raises questions about the sincerity of the government’s anti-corruption agenda.
Citing the Nigerian Constitution and the UN Convention against Corruption, SERAP said the government is obligated to investigate and penalise any interference with the course of justice and to prosecute those indicted in the report.
“Bringing suspected perpetrators to justice and recovering stolen assets would advance Nigerians’ right to restitution, compensation, and guarantees of non-repetition,” the group said.
