Kyari insists NNPC Ltd withheld no public fund
- NEITI wants Joint Reconciliation Committee reconstituted
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has declared that it has not failed to remit statutory oil income to the federation account as earlier made public in the damning report f the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Group Chief Executive Officer of the national oil company, Mallam Mele Kyari, told visiting delegation of the global Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) that its Nigerian affiliate, NEITI, had erred in its report that NNPC Ltd failed to remit some monies into the Federation Account instead of seeking clarification on any perceived gap assessment.
Kyari made it clear that NNPC Ltd was holding no public funds back and that what NEITI reported as non-remittance was what was due to the company as payment for taking the burden of fuel subsidy on behalf of the Federal Government.
He disclosed that NNPC Ltd would have released its Audited Financial Statement (AFS) for 2022 since June 2023 but could not do so because it had no substantive Board of Directors at that time, adding that the AFS will be published on the company’s website in the next few days.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, called for the reconstitution of the NNPC/NEITI Joint Committee on Reconciliation, stressing that the committee could help in straightening out any grey areas.
With the visit, the NNPC Limited recovered its transparency status with the global transparency body which rated the company very high in its latest global assessment.
EITI’s Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Bady Baldé, said the delegation’s visit was to communicate the group’s findings in its recent global assessment to the company said NNPC Ltd fared very well among companies in the same category, adding that only Equinox of Norway fared better than NNPC Ltd in the assessment.
He, however, said there was still room for NNPC Ltd to improve; stressing that compliance with global EITI standards will help boost the company’s credibility.
The EITI boss also urged NNPC Ltd to remain engaged to play an active role in its Nigerian unit, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Earlier in his welcome remarks, Kyari highlighted some of the key changes in the operations of the NNPC Ltd since its transformation into a commercially focused limited liability company in 2021.
He acknowledged that the NNPC Ltd’s partnership with EITI/NEITI has made it a much more reliable company.