The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has refuted the allegations of $6.8 billion debt to international oil traders, and non-remittance to the Federation Account since January, among others.
NNPC Ltd, dismissed the allegations in a statement on Sunday by its
Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye.
Soneye clarified that the national oil company did not owe the sum of $6.8bn to any international trader(s) as was alleged.
He explained 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. But NNPC Ltd., through its subsidiary, NNPC Trading, has many open trade credit lines from several traders. The company is paying its obligations of related invoices on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis.”
The Spokesman said it was also not correct to say that NNPC Ltd. has not remitted any money to the Federation Account since January, stating that 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),” he said.
On the issue of quality/quantity fiscalization of imported petroleum products, he said, NNPC Ltd. has no role whatsoever as it is not a regulator, noting that 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.
“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 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,” Soneye stated.
