Mele Kyari has said that the NNPCL delivered N4.5 trillion to the federation account in October 2023.
The Nation reports that Kyari said this during a session with the Senate Committee on Finance at the National Assembly complex on Wednesday, December 13.
- “I am glad to inform you Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Senators that as of October, we were able to deliver N4.5 trillion into the federation account as a company to this country in 2023.”
According to Kyari, the company is striving towards transparency and balancing of its financial records. Recall that in the National Development Update report from the World Bank on December 13, it was highlighted that Nigeria’s oil revenue has shown an increase primarily since June 2023, specifically labelled as “exchange rate gains,” which suggests that these gains are linked to the depreciation of the Nigerian naira.
The report noted that however, apart from the gains related to the exchange rate, there is a lack of clarity and openness regarding other aspects of oil revenues.
This includes the financial benefits acquired by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) due to the removal of subsidies, ongoing deductions for subsidy arrears, and how these deductions impact the overall revenues of the Federation.
Moreover, there is confusion surrounding why the retail prices of petrol have not fluctuated significantly since August 2023, despite noticeable shifts in both the exchange rate and global oil prices.
This lack of alignment between market changes and retail prices raises questions about the factors influencing the pricing mechanisms and their transparency.
Margins will align by Q1/2024
Meanwhile, during the Senate committee session on Wednesday, December 13, Kyari maintained that the NNPCL being a creation of the National Assembly, requires that they conduct business transparently and profitably in line with provisions of the law and to create value for shareholders, and not to lose money, and to continue to add value and pay dividends to shareholders. He also said that by Q1/2024, margins will begin to make more sense.
He said:
- “Every national oil company has a trading company. We have always had one which never worked before the PIA’s implementation. Currently, NNPCL is delivering on its mandate through the PIA reforms that have brought us to be at par with our peers, across the globe, and not to lose money anymore.
- “There is always a parallel market in every country. There is also an import and export window in every country, even in the developed world. But there is always a narrow gap between the two and it takes time for you to have stability in this gap so that you have a low margin between the two for a sustained period, then businesses will thrive.
- “There is a line of sight around this. I am very confident that by the end of the first quarter of next year (Q1/2024), those margins will narrow, and stability will come, and you will see others coming into the market.”
