The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described President Bola Tinubu’s cancellation of the $1.42 billion debt owed to the federal government by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as “an impeachable offence.”
This is just as the party also berated the National Assembly for allegedly colluding with the Executive to violate the Constitution of Nigeria.
Recall that official documents recently presented to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) indicated that the President approved the removal from the Federation Account books of approximately $1.42 billion and ₦5.57 trillion in legacy NNPC debt following what was described as “a reconciliation of records with regulators.”
Read also: FG writes off $1.42bn, N5.57tn NNPC debt after reconciliation
BusinessDay gathered that the directive covers outstanding liabilities accumulated up to December 31, 2024.
Reports also indicated that the presidential cancellation of legacy debts previously reported as outstanding covers those arising from production-sharing contracts, domestic supply obligations, royalty receivables and other legacy balances.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, said in a statement posted on his X handle on Saturday that the party “is especially concerned that nearly 96 percent of the dollar-denominated legacy obligations and 88 percent of the naira-denominated legacy balances were written off by executive directive.”
According to the party, “This write-off was done without legislative or parliamentary approval or clear constitutional authority.”
The party said the “purported justification of ‘reconciliation’ cannot lawfully override the constitutional requirements for revenue sharing.”
Citing provisions of Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the ADC noted that “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 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.”
The party also noted that the Federation Account is not subject to executive discretion, adding that “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.”
