**Stakeholders Demand Forensic Audit, Answers Over Alleged Unauthorised Movement of Funds
The management of Nigeria’s Frontier Exploration Fund has come under fresh scrutiny following allegations surrounding the transfer of $279 million from the fund’s account under circumstances stakeholders say require urgent clarification.
The controversy has also put the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, under pressure, with calls mounting for relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged movement of the funds.
According to allegations making the rounds, the $279 million transfer was allegedly carried out without the authorization or signatures of officials designated to approve transactions from the Frontier Exploration Fund account.
Stakeholders are demanding answers on who authorized the transaction, where the funds were transferred to, the legal basis for the movement and the purpose for which the money was allegedly released.
They are also calling for a comprehensive forensic audit of the Frontier Exploration Fund account to establish whether the transaction complied with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, financial regulations and established public-sector procedures.
The stakeholders want anti-corruption agencies, the National Assembly and other relevant oversight institutions to independently examine the transaction and determine whether any laws or financial management procedures were breached.
Among the issues they want investigators to establish are the identity of the person or institution that authorized the alleged transfer, the destination of the funds, the beneficiaries, and whether the money was ultimately deployed for purposes permitted under the law.
The controversy centres on the Frontier Exploration Fund established under Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
The fund was created to finance petroleum exploration activities in frontier basins where commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves are yet to be fully established, with the broader objective of expanding Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves.
Its activities are expected to cover geological mapping, seismic surveys, exploratory drilling, appraisal wells, basin studies and other exploration programmes aimed at unlocking hydrocarbon resources in underexplored areas.
Nigeria’s identified frontier basins include the Chad, Sokoto, Bida, Benue Trough, Anambra and Dahomey Basins, while the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has powers under the law to designate additional frontier basins.
The PIA also provides a funding mechanism for the initiative, requiring 30 per cent of NNPC Limited’s profit oil and profit gas from relevant Production Sharing Contracts, Profit Sharing Contracts and Risk Service Contracts to be paid into the Frontier Exploration Fund.
With the alleged $279 million transfer now generating questions, stakeholders insist that only a transparent and independent investigation can establish the facts and determine whether the funds were moved lawfully.
They are therefore urging the relevant authorities to make the outcome of any investigation public, arguing that the management of public funds must be subjected to transparency, accountability and strict compliance with the law.
As of the time of publication, the allegations regarding the $279 million transfer have not been independently established, and any response from the relevant authorities would be important in determining the facts surrounding the transaction.
