19th August, 2024
By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has dismissed claims that it has not remitted funds into the federation account since beginning of this year, January 2024.
NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye in a statement on Sunday said it was not correct to say that NNPC Ltd. has not remitted any money to the Federation Account since January as the company and all its subsidiaries remit their taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) regularly.
He added that contrary to such assertions, NNPCL is the largest contributor to money shared to Federal, States and Local Governments from the federal account every month.
“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).”
On the quality/quantity fiscalization of imported petroleum products, Soneye said 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 NNPCL.
“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,” the statement added.
NNPCL also denied a report claiming that it owes international oil traders $6.8 billion, but acknowledged that it is normal to owe at one point or the other since the oil trading business, transactions are carried out on credit.
“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,” he said.
