‘NNPC Not Owing Int’l Oil Marketers $6.8bn’

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has denied media reports that the company is indebted to international oil traders to the tune of $6.8bn and that it has not remitted revenues to the Federation Account since January, among other allegations.

Making clarification on the issue, chief corporate communications officer of the company, Olufemi Soneye, denied that NNPC Ltd does not owe the sum of $6.8 billion to any international trader(s).
Soneye, stated that in the oil trading business, transactions are carried out on credit, and so it is normal to owe at one point or the other.

He further added that the NNPC Ltd, through its subsidiary, NNPC Trading, has many open trade credit lines from several traders and that the company is paying its obligations of related invoices on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis.

He said it is not correct to say that NNPC Ltd. has not remitted any money to the Federation Account since January.

According to him, NNPC Ltd and all its subsidiaries remit their taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) regularly.

This is in addition to payments of CIT to road contractors under the Road Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

“In all, NNPC Ltd. is the largest contributor to the tax revenue shared every month at the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC),” Soneye said.

Speaking on the issue of quality/quantity of imported petroleum products, he explained that the NNPC Ltd. has no role whatsoever as it is not a regulator.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which is the relevant regulatory agency in charge of such issues, is an independent body and does not report to the NNPC Ltd, he clarified.

In addition he said that NNPC Ltd. is not averse to inquiries by the media into issues on and around its operations before dissemination to the public either through the print or electronic channels of communication as the company will, always, gladly take the opportunities to state the facts of the subject matter(s). This he said is in line with the company’s commitment to the Transparency, Accountability, and Performance Excellence (TAPE) philosophy as emplaced by the Mele Kyari-led management since stepping into the saddle in 2019.