Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has rated the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) high in its latest global assessment.
Deputy Executive Director of EITI Mr Bady Balde, said this in a statement issued after a visit by the global transparency group delegation to the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mr Mele Kyari, in Abuja at the weekend.
According to Balde, the delegation’s visit was to communicate the group’s findings in its recent global assessment to the company.
He said that the NNPCL did very well among companies in the same category, adding that only Equinox of Norway fared better than NNPCL in the assessment.
He however, said that there was still room for the NNPCL to improve, stressing that compliance with global EITI standards would help boost the company’s credibility.
The Deputy Executive Director also tasked the NNPCL to remain engaged to play 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.
Kyari explained that NNPCL was holding no public funds back, pointing out that what NEITI reported as non-remittance 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 would 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.