Transparency: EITI Rates NNPCL High in Compliance

Kyari insists no public fund withheld

Global transparency body, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), has scored the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited very high in its latest global assessment.

This was disclosed by EITI’s Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Bady Baldé, during a visit by an EITI delegation to the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, in Abuja.

Baldé who said the delegation’s visit was to communicate the group’s findings in its recent global assessment to the company said NNPCL fared very well among companies in the same category, adding that only Equinox of Norway fared better than NNPCL in the assessment.

A statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL, Olufemi O. Soneye, said Baldé, however, said there was still room for NNPCL to improve, stressing that compliance with global EITI standards would help boost the company’s credibility.

The EITI boss also urged NNPCL 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

NNPCL since its transformation into a commercially focused limited liability company in 2021.

He acknowledged that the NNPCL’s partnership with EITI/ NEITI has made it a much more reliable company.

He, however, expressed disappointment with NEITI for going public with its report that NNPCL failed to remit some monies into the Federation Account instead of seeking clarification on any perceived gap in its assessment.

He explained that NNPCL was holding no public funds back and that what NEITI reported as nonremittance 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 NNPCL 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.