The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for granting debt waiver to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPPC), describing it as unconstitutional.

Daily Trust had reported how President Tinubu approved the cancellation of a significant portion of the NNPC’s outstanding debts involving N7.6 trillion owed to the Federation Account.

The decision has elicited reactions, with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and legal practitioners describing it as an assault on transparency, fiscal discipline and abuse of public trust.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that the write off was done without legislative approval, raising concerns that the action violated the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

“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 said.

The statement, shared on X on Saturday, added, “The ADC 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. 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.

“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 ADC cautioned that the President lacks unilateral authority to cancel revenues constitutionally due to the Federation Account.

“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,” it said.

The oppositeion coalition further accused President Tinubu of repeated constitutional violations, arguing that the debt waiver alone was sufficient to warrant impeachment.

“W 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,” the statement said. (Weekend Trust)

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