By Richards Adeniyi
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it met its financial obligations to the Federation Account in 2018 by remitting N1.26 trillion as against the N1.22 trillion projected in the 2018 budget, recording a surplus of N41 billion.
The Managing Director of NNPC Capital, Godwin Okonkwo, made this submission when he represented the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, 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 at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
A statement by NNPC spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, quoted the GMD as saying that though 2.3 million barrels per day (mbpd) was proposed in the 2018 budget, national daily production for the period under review oscillated between 1.9 mbpd to 1.89 mbpd.
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.
He added 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,” Okonkwo said.
He noted that the corporation on a regular and sustained basis balanced up with the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the JV cash calls in order to make sure that the future generations do not suffer from the legacy debt.
Baru also said 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.