By Onome Oghenetega
In its desire to promote transparency and engenders accountability, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has released its 2019 Audited Financial Statement barely five months after the 2018 report was published.
According to it, the Corporation recorded a 99.7% reduction in its loss profile from ₦803bn in 2018 to ₦1.7bn in 2019.
A statement on Thursday signed by the Group General Manager (GGM), Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, reiterated NNPC’s avowed commitment to promoting accountability within its operation.
Obateru, quoting the Corporation’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Umar Ajiya, noted that the 2019 Audited Financial Statement on NNPC’s website in consonance with the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) of which it is a partner.
The disclosed that majority of the subsidiaries including Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) and the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) recorded improved performance and made gains for the Corporation.
It further disclosed that general administrative expenses also witnessed a 22% decline from ₦894bn recorded for 2018 to ₦696bn in 2019.
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“Majority of the subsidiaries posted improved performance namely, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) which recorded ₦479Billion profit in 2019 compared to ₦179Billion in 2018 representing 167% increase; the Integrated Data Sciences Limited (IDSL) recorded ₦23Billion profit in 2019 compared to ₦154Million in 2018 representing 14966% increase; the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) recorded ₦14.2Billion profit in 2019 compared to ₦9.3Billion in 2018 representing 52% increase; while the Refineries have maintained the same level of losses as in 2018 but which will reduce significantly in 2020 due to cost optimization drive.
“The CFO explained that the improved performance in the 2019 financial year was driven mainly by cost optimization, contracts renegotiation and operational efficiency. He said “the 2019 AFS goes further to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the principle of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) while the outlook for 2020 looks promising in view of the Management’s strong drive to prune down running cost and grow revenues”, the statement added.
It would be recalled that the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, had promised to sustain the publication of the Corporation’s Audited Financial Statement as part of efforts to deepen transparency and accountability and keep stakeholders abreast of NNPC operations.
