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The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has refuted claims that the state-owned oil giant failed to remit some public funds into the federation account.
Kyari expressed disappointment with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) for making public its report alleging NNPC’s failure to remit funds, instead of seeking clarification on any perceived gaps in its assessment.
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According to a statement from NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, Kyari insisted that NNPC was not holding any public funds. He explained that the reported non-remittance was payment due to NNPC for bearing the burden of fuel subsidy on behalf of the Federal Government.
Kyari noted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company would have released its Audited Financial Statement (AFS) for 2022 in June 2023 but could not do so due to the lack of a substantive Board of Directors at that time. The AFS will be published on the company’s website in the next few days.
In contrast to NEITI’s claims, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global transparency body, scored NNPC Ltd very high in its latest global assessment. The Deputy Executive Director of EITI, Bady Baldé, stated during a visit to Kyari that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. performed well compared to companies in the same category.
He mentioned that only Equinox of Norway scored better than the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. in the assessment. However, Baldé suggested there was still room for improvement and emphasized that compliance with global EITI standards would enhance the company’s credibility.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, called for the reconstitution of the NNPC/NEITI Joint Committee on Reconciliation, stating that the committee could help address any areas of concern.
NEITI claimed in September 2023 that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company failed to remit $2 billion to the federation account based on its 2021 Oil and Gas report, which highlighted revenue sources from the oil and gas industry.
