Openness: NNPC Ltd. receives a good compliance rating from EITI.
According to the most recent worldwide evaluation by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global transparency body, NNPC Ltd. of Nigeria received an excellent grade.
Mr. Bady Baldé, the Deputy Executive Director of the EITI, disclosed this while meeting with Mr. Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., in Abuja.
Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd., released a statement in which Baldé explained that the delegation’s visit was to inform the company of the findings of the group’s most recent global evaluation.
Among its peers, he added, NNPC performed exceptionally well; in fact, he went so far as to say that only Equinox of Norway had done better.
But he did say that NNPC could still do better and that getting on board with worldwide EITI standards would do wonders for the company’s reputation.
Additionally, the head of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Nigeria emphasised the importance of NNPC Ltd. continuing to be an active participant in the Nigerian NEETI.
Before becoming a limited liability company with an emphasis on business in 2021, NNPC Ltd. underwent a number of significant operational adjustments, some of which Kyari had already described.
The speaker conceded that the collaboration between EITI/NEITI and NNPC Ltd. had significantly enhanced the company’s reliability.
Instead of asking for an explanation of any perceived discrepancy in its assessment, he was disappointed that NEITI went public with its claim that NNPC Ltd. failed to submit certain sums into the Federation Account.
No public cash was being held back by NNPC Ltd., Kyari stated.
The amount that NEITI claimed as non-remittance was actually the money that was owed to the business for shouldering the gasoline subsidy load for the federal government, he explained.
He said that before June 2023, NNPC Ltd. did not have a formal board of directors, which prevented them from releasing its audited financial statement (AFS) for 2022.
Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NEITI, supported the idea of reestablishing the NNPC/NEITI Joint Committee on Reconciliation and said that it may clarify some ambiguities.