The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the plan by the Federal Government to cancel the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Ltd) debt to the Federation Account is unconstitutional and financially harmful to States and Local Governments.
ADC, in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that up to 96 per cent of the dollar-denominated debts and 88 per cent of the naira-denominated debts were removed by executive directive without legislative approval.
According to the party, this is in violation of Section 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
ADC accused President Tinubu of repeatedly breaching the Constitution and criticised the National Assembly’s silence in the face of what it called a serious constitutional breach.
The party stated that 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.
It recalled that in the 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 and N5.57 trillion in legacy NNPC debt following a reconciliation of records with regulators.
“This directive covers outstanding liabilities accumulated up to 31 December 2024,” the party said.
It expressed concern 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.
“This 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,” ADC stated.
The party reminded the president that executive action cannot override the Constitution, adding that 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,” it added.
According to the ADC, these egregious assaults on the Constitution should be sufficient grounds to commence impeachment proceedings.
