- Says there’s regular tax payments into the Federation Account
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has refuted a media report claiming that the company owes international oil traders $6.8 billion and has not remitted revenues to the Federation Account since January, among other accusations.
Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd. made this clarification in a statement on Sunday.
According to him, in the oil trading business, transactions are carried out on credit, and so it is normal to owe at one point or the other.
He said: “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.”
Soneye further explained that it was not correct to say that NNPC Ltd has not remitted any money to the Federation Account since January. He said: ”NNPCL. 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),” he noted. Adding that the NNPCL has no role whatsoever to play in the issue of quality cum quantity fiscalization of imported petroleum products, emphasizing that the company is not a regulator.
Soneye explained that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), as the relevant regulatory agency, is one government agency, independent in its operation, in charge of such issues, without any obligations to report to the NNPCL.
Olufemi also stated that the national oil company would always welcome any media inquiries on its operations, urging media practitioners to verify issues before pushing it for public consumption “for we will gladly take the opportunity to present the facts on any given issue”, he said.
He added: “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.”