Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been faulted report that it’s 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.
Olufemi Soneye,Chief Corporate Communications Officer,NNPC Ltd gave the clarification in a statement on Sunday,where he explained that 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 statement quoted,adding that the company is paying its obligations of related invoices on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis.
The statement also said,it’s 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.
It said:”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)”.
The statement shed light on the issue of quality/quantity fiscalization of imported petroleum products,saying 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,it clarified in the statement.
It said:”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”.