The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it remitted to the federation account the sum of N1.26 trillion as against the N1.22 trillion projected in the 2018 budget.
According to the state run oil corporation, it represents a surplus of N41billion.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru represented Managing Director, Mr. Godwin Okonkwo, made the submission during a presentation to the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the Investigation of the Non-Remittances of Funds to the Federation Account by the corporation between July 2017 and December 2018.
A statement by Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, on Tuesday in Abuja quoted the GMD as saying that though 2.3million barrels per day (mbpd) was proposed in the 2018 budget, national daily production for the period under review oscillated between 1.9mbpd to 1.89mbpd.
Dr. Baru listed the two sources of inflows into the Federation Account from the NNPC to include equity crude oil sales less cost of recovery from the Joint Venture cash call arrears and domestic crude less cost recovery, adding that the JV cash call arrears were being efficiently managed now to ensure steady inflows to the Federation Account.
“The current management of NNPC ensures that it contributes to the cost of the production of crude oil and gas in the upstream sector to avoid a repeat of the mistakes of the past. If we had made cash call payments in the past, the arrears that we are liquidating now would not have arisen. The current situation creates a win-win scenario for the country. The NNPC is strategically saving for the rainy day to make a better future for all of us by liquidating the arrears”, Mr. Okonkwo posited.
Responding to a question on whether the NNPC 2018 audited account was ready, Dr. Baru stated that the 2018 audited account would be ready next month, adding that NNPC had cleared its backlog of unaudited account. He attributed the delay to some Joint Venture partners that were being awaited to turn in their budget performance for the 2018 budget circle to be completed.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Hon. Chukwuka Onyema Wilfred, praised the NNPC for responding to all the issues raised, stressing that the interface would go a long way to putting to rest allegations of non-remittances of funds against the NNPC.
