BY SAM OTUONYE
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), has maintained that the regime of subsidy payment is far gone by, clarifying that what Nigerians mistake for payment of subsidy is actually absorption of price differentials.
The clarification was made recently by the company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer (CCCO), Mr. Olufemi Sonoye, when Editorial Team of New National Star Newspaper, paid a courtesy visit to NNPC.
New National Star (NNS), a reputable daily national media with its Online news and television channels, led by the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Obinna Nwachukwu, paid a courtesy call on the Spokesman of the national apex oil firm, the NNPC Ltd, to commend him and his team on the excellent and professional job they are doing.
Dr. Nwachukwu applauded the communications directorate of the company, led by Mr. Sonoye, for strategically repositioning the NNPC Ltd through effective and professional communications, adding that the current profit milestone achieved by the company could not have been possible without the effective communication roles they played.
Nwachukwu praised the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Ltd, Mallam Mele Kyari, for positively resetting the company since assumption of duty in policies and operations.
He said: “We celebrate the GCEO’s achievements, his roles in PIA (Petroleum Industry Act), converting the company from a Corporation to a Limited Liability Company. He has faced different panels of the National Assembly to defend his policies and actions and have come out successfully”.
Responding, Mr. Sonoye thanked the NNS team for commending and appreciating them for their achievements, noting that NNPC Ltd is a national asset and should be protected like our personal assets. He stated that most bad narratives about the company are not true.
“For us at NNPC, as I always tell people, NNPC is our national asset and we should protect it like our personal assets. The truth of the matter is that most of those narratives you hear out there are not true and we don’t take them serious,” he said.
On the issue of whether government still pays petrol subsidy, Sonoye clarified that what is erroneously adjudged as subsidy payment is essentially price differential. He explained that no cash or transfer payment is made to anybody to subsidise petrol products rather NNPC Ltd absorbs the difference between the purchase price and the selling price to reduce the harsh effect on Nigerians.
He stated that NNPC transactions and operations are executed with every sense of transparency and accountability and in the interest of national prosperity.
On the Editorial Team of NNS were; MD/EiC Dr. Obinna Nwachukwu, Acting Editor Mr. Ezeocha Nze, General Editor Mr. Festus Okoromadu, and Business Editor Mr. Sam Otuonye.