NRS Boss Fires Back At $279m Frontier Fund Allegation, Says Report Was ‘Pure Fake News’

By Opeyemi Adelakun

The Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, has rejected allegations of a $279m fraud involving the Frontier Exploration Fund, describing the report as a deliberate attempt to discredit him and the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The controversy followed reports alleging that $279m was moved from the Frontier Exploration Fund to unidentified accounts, with claims that Adedeji and the NRS were aware of the purported illegal transaction.

The reports also suggested that the alleged movement of funds had triggered calls from stakeholders for a forensic audit of the account.

But Adedeji, in his response, dismissed the allegations outright and accused those behind the publication of deliberately spreading false information.

“That report is not true in any way. It is pure fake news sponsored by some jobless persons whose pastime is to throw mud at high performers in the President Tinubu government,” he said.

The NRS chairman also questioned the professional standards behind the reports, arguing that their presentation was designed to create suspicion rather than establish facts.

“I consider it to be a brand of cheap journalism lacking in ethics and professionalism but heavy with malicious intentions,” he said.

Adedeji further alleged that the reports circulating across different online platforms were connected, pointing to what he described as similarities in their language and narrative.

“To prove to you that it was sponsored, take a critical look at the storyline and language. They are the same language and style in all the reports, meaning that one person wrote it and distributed across gullible online platforms,” he said.

Adedeji Explains Frontier Fund

Beyond denying the allegations, Adedeji said the reports appeared to reflect a misunderstanding of the purpose and disbursement structure of the Frontier Exploration Fund.

He explained that the fund was established under Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, to finance petroleum exploration activities in frontier basins where commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves have not yet been fully established.

The basins covered by the fund include Bida, Benue Trough, Anambra, Chad, Sokoto and Dahomey.

According to the NRS chief, the fund is intended to support technical and exploratory activities required to determine the petroleum potential of such areas.

These activities include geological mapping, seismic surveys, exploratory drilling, appraisal wells and basin studies, among other exploration-related operations.

His comments come amid heightened public interest in the management of government funds and the financing of exploration activities in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

However, the materials available for this report do not independently establish whether the alleged $279m transfer occurred, nor do they confirm that a forensic audit has been ordered.