Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has dissolved the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with immediate effect.

The dissolution of was contained in a letter to the board on Friday signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi.

The letter quoted President Buhari as thanking members of the dissolved board for their services to the nation.

During his campaigns, President Buhari had reiterated his commitment to sanitising the NNPC and blocking fund leakages in the corporation.

The NNPC has in recent years been accused of large scale corruption, the latest being the alleged disappearance of $20 billion oil money made from the sale of crude oil to the Federation Account between 2012 and 2013.

An independent audit ordered by the Nigerian government in 2014 concluded that the corporation has an outstanding $1.48 billion to pay to the government.

President Buhari, had in April stated that his administration would revisit the alleged missing $20 billion.

The NNPC has yet to make the payment several months after the release of the audit report.