Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Dr. Mele Kyari, on Wednesday disclosed that the company has remitted N10 trillion to the Federation Account as of September 2024.
Dr. Kyari, who disclosed this in Abuja during a budget defense session before the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Finance, explained that the total remittance includes the sum of N3.5 trillion dividends after taxes and revenue for the 2024 fiscal year.
He maintained the NNPCL, which is the highest taxpayer of royalty and dividends in Nigeria, is the only company in Nigeria that publishes 100 percent of its accounts on a yearly basis.
The NNPCL helmsman, therefore, called for a forensic audit to be conducted on money they spent for the stabilization of the price of petrol from January to September 2024.
“Until 1st October 2024, NNPCL, as mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), acted as the supply of last resort on fuel supply, which requires a forensic audit to know how much NNPCL is being owed or owing any agency.
“Our transactional account is very transparent,nt which is published on a yearly basis, making NNPCL the only company in Nigeria noted for that and also the highest taxpayer in the country as well as the highest payer of royalty and dividends to shareholders as commercial national oil companies.”
Dr. Kyari Ho,wever ob, served that revenue projection for 2025 will be made after the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company scheduled to be held in two weeks.
While assuring that the parameters for the 2025 budget are realistic and realisable, Dr. Kyari explained that payments into the Consolidated Revenue Fund are no longer necessary due to existing laws governing NNPCL’s operations.
He added that the company now operates under a different structure, with its contributions coming through dividends and taxes rather than direct remittances.
Addressing the NNPCL’s production dynamics, Kyari stated that the company no longer has full control over oil production in Nigeria.
Instead, its role is limited to joint venture arrangements, and it can only account for its own production contributions, he said.
He noted that NNPCL achieved over 90% of its planned production target for 2024.
However, he acknowledged challenges in price adjustments for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and delays in remitting taxes and royalties.
“These delays were attributed to efforts to balance PMS price adjustments, which only took full effect on October 1, 2024”, Kyari said.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) projected a revenue remittance of N997 billion to the Federation Account for 2025.
Also, the Managing Director of Nigeria Port Authority ( NPA ), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, said NPA remitted N753 billion into the consolidated revenue fund and projected N997 billion for 2025 fiscal year.
The Committee chaired by Senator Sani Musa and Hon James Faleke, however, jerked up the projected revenue for 2025 from N997 billion to N1.75 trillion.
The increased revenue projection according to the joint committee chairmen, was done for maximization of the 56 revenue sources of the NPA.
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