- NNPC CEO Mele Kyari refutes NEITI claims of N2.8 trillion non-remittance, clarifying it was payment owed for fuel subsidy burden
- Kyari expresses disappointment with NEITI for not seeking clarification before making the report public. EITI praises NNPC’s performance
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has refuted claims made by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) that the NNPCL failed to remit certain funds into the Federation Account.
In NEITI’s ‘2021 Oil and Gas Industry Report,’ released in September 2023, allegations were made that the NNPCL did not remit approximately N2.8 trillion in taxes to the Federal Government in 2022. NEITI indicated that NNPCL owed more than 80 per cent (N2.8tn) of the outstanding tax collectable revenues, contributing to the approximately N3.5tn ($8.25bn at N448/$1 exchange rate in 2022) owed to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Kyari expressed disappointment with NEITI for publicising the report without seeking clarification on any perceived gaps. He addressed this during a visit by a delegation from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Abuja.
Kyari clarified that NNPCL was not withholding public funds, and what NEITI reported as non-remittance was payment owed to the company for taking on the burden of fuel subsidy on behalf of the government. He disclosed that the Audited Financial Statement (AFS) for 2022, delayed due to the absence of a substantive Board of Directors, would soon be published on the company’s website.
In a positive note, Bady Baldé, EITI’s Deputy Executive Director, revealed during the visit that the NNPCL received a high score in EITI’s latest global assessment. Baldé commended NNPCL’s performance, stating that only Equinox of Norway outperformed NNPCL in the assessment among companies in the same category.
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