NNPC seeks exemption from remitting operating surplus

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has advocated its exemption from remitting its operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Mr Andrew Yakubu, Group Managing Director of the corporation, made the call in a message to an interactive session with House of Representatives Committee on Finance in Abuja on Wednesday.

Yakubu, represented by Mr Benard Oti, Group Executive Director (Finance) of NNPC, said it relied on internally generated revenue to fund its operations without subvention from government.

“The corporation wishes to seek the consideration, appreciation and support of the committee to exempt the NNPC from the remittance of operating surplus to the consolidated revenue fund,' he said.

According to GMD, the repairs of pipelines damaged by vandals are funded from the corporation’s cash flows to ensure steady supply of petroleum products.

“NNPC incurs huge costs in meeting its statutory and other assigned roles in the overall and overriding interest of the nation,'' he said.

Yakubu said the corporation lost N300 billion, N111 billion and N193 billion in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively to oil thieves.

He added that the NNPC, like any other oil corporation, was not only managing oil business but also managing the challenges confronting oil production.

The GMD said that the corporation had been subjected to the pains of pipeline vandalism over the years.

The Coordinator of Corporate Planning of the NNPC, Mr Timothy Okon, said the corporation was operating under challenging circumstances to ensure that production was not affected.

He said that between 2009 and 2012, the corporation lost 11 million barrels of crude oil to pipeline vandals.

Okon attributed the corporation’s inability to remit any surplus funds to the consolidated fund to operational losses suffered between 2009 and 2011.

Mr Anthony Ogbuigwe, the Group Executive Director (Refining and Petrochemicals), said NNPC lost 11.7 million barrels of crude oil in four years.

The Chairman of the Finance Committee, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin (PDP-Kano), explained  that the session was aimed at ensuring that government businesses were carried out with seriousness.

He enjoined officials of the corporation to respond to several questions raised by members of the committee at the next sitting. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the committee had been locked in a battle with revenue-generating agencies of government over non-remittance of revenue to the consolidated revenue account. (NAN)