How NNPC’s recent financial audit contradicts last year’s, by expert on Inside Sources
An oil and gas expert, Henry Adigun, has faulted the recently released 2023 audited financial statement of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). According to him, NNPCL’s audited financials has many gaps and Nigerians are only being shown what the company what the public to know. Adigun stated this on the soaring TV talk […]
An oil and gas expert, Henry Adigun, has faulted the recently released 2023 audited financial statement of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
According to him, NNPCL’s audited financials has many gaps and Nigerians are only being shown what the company what the public to know.
Adigun stated this on the soaring TV talk show- Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.
He said the rot in the oil and gas sector is from the top, and that it is structural. He said the NNPCL is “moving towards transparency, and not there yet”.
Adigun said, “Transparency is not what I tell you; transparency is what you need to know that I tell you. So I can tell you something and I give you an aura of transparency but is that all that you need to know? Is it verifiable? Is it accurate?
“Let me give you an instance. Last year, the NNPCL, in its audited report, said it invested $2bn in Dangote Refinery. Now, in its (latest) audited report, it said $1.67bn. Who did the audit? It’s a different to say it intends to, because intents are intents. But it claimed so until Dangote came out and said NNPC only invested 7.4% in his refinery… Again, there are a lot of gaps in the information.”
He said the audited financials should be broken down to reflect the profits of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), the NNPC Retail, NNPC Group and other corporations for Nigerians to have a true picture.
“What we are seeing right now is what they want us to see,” he noted.
This week, NNPC Limited released its 2023 audited financial statement, declaring a net profit of N3.297 trillion at the close of the financial year which ended in December 2023, an increase of over N700billion (28%) when compared to the 2022 profit of N2.548trillion.
The company also said it is not paying subsidy on petrol but differential price shortfall between the cost of importation and the retail price.
However, Adigun said the imported cost of petrol is one dollar and some cents and the NNPCL has been bearing the differential cost. He said said it is not true that subsidy is not being paid whether it is underrecovery or in whatever form.
The energy expert said subsidy removal was not well-thoughout and it has a bad effect on inflation. He said the government should come out clean and tell Nigerians the truth, adding that the government can’t afford to be borrowing for a consumptive action.