BY SAM OTUONYE
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), has in the past weeks been wrapped with myriad of allegations which the company has dutifully debunked at every turn.
The latest been the accusation of indebtedness of $6.8 billion to international oil traders. As usual the company has stated that there is no truth in the claim.
The position was known by the company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Sonoye in a press statement Sunday.
The statement read: “The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been drawn to a media report 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.
“Consequently, the following clarifications have become necessary:
1. That NNPC Ltd. does not owe the sum of $6.8bn to any international trader(s). 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.
2. It is not correct to say that NNPC Ltd. has not remitted any money to the Federation Account since January. 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).
3. On the issue of quality/quantity fiscalization of imported petroleum products, 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.
4. 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.”
It would be recalled that the allegations of starving Dangote refinery of crude, establishing oil blending plants at Malta, among others, against NNPC Ltd are yet to die down.