NNPC Ltd, Nigeria’s national oil company has dismissed claims by a non-government organisation that it owes the country huge sums of money in the form of unremitted revenue.

Describing the NGO’s allegations as ‘baseless’, the company said the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [ NEITI ] has dismissed many of the claims in its 2021 report following a series of engagements it had with it.

In a press statement dated November 6, 2023, and signed by NNPC Ltd’s Chief  Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, the company said it would continue to collaborate with NEITI and other stakeholders in the Reconciliation Committee set up by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate, review and reconcile the financial records on alleged indebtedness by both NNPC Ltd and the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC.

The company, through its spokesman, went on to shed some light on some financial engagements as they relate to the Federal Government.

“NNPC Ltd. states that at the outset of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, it was made to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported into the country at one-third of its value, a development that gave rise to an average of N400 billion monthly subsidy bill, which subsequently put a strain on its revenues and finances.

NNPC Ltd. further states, “that subsidy bill accumulated to up to N3.736 trillion as of May 31st, 2023.”

With respect to gas-to-power debts, the non-payment of NNPC Ltd.’s share of upstream joint venture gas supplied to the government-owned plants led to the accumulation of indebtedness of N174.07 billion by the Federation.

Similarly, the receivables due from the federation to NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL) as of 31st May 2023 amount to $712 million(equivalent to N309.07 billion at N434.08/US$1) for revenues not remitted toNEPL but paid into the Federation account.

While the Federation owed NNPC Ltd. the sum of N4.207 trillion as net indebtedness, the Company was only indebted to the Federation in the sum of N2.852 trillion, made up mainly of outstanding Good and Valuable Consideration (GVC) in respect of government upstream divestments, royalties, and Petroleum Profit taxes (PPT).

We would also like to use this opportunity to clarify that over the years, our relationship with NEITI has been very cordial, as seen in August 2020 when we became an EITI supporting company, joining a group of over 65 extractive companies, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), commodity traders, financial institutions and industry partners committed to observing the EITI’s supporting company expectations.

Indeed, aside from being a signatory to several of EITI’s global ethics and standards, NNPC Ltd., on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September this year, signed up to the United Nations Global Compact on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, thereby becoming the first state-owned oil company to join the global initiative.

NNPC Ltd’s book remains open to all our stakeholders as we remain committed to delivering value to Nigerians with integrity and as espoused in our principles of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE), the bulwark of the Mele Kyari leadership of the company.”