Nigeria Commercialises NNPC, to Sell Share to Public
Federal Government has unveiled the final decision to commercialise its state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) formally on Tuesday ahead of its plan to sell shares to the public.
The move follows the partial implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. Minister Timipre Sylva said would deliver more profitability and accountability.
NNPC Ltd operates joint production ventures with Western oil majors but anti-corruption campaigners have long asked for the company to be more transparent, calling for the publication of its crude contracts and statement of accounts.
As a commercial entity, NNPC Ltd will no longer have access to state funds. Its shares will be held by the ministries of petroleum and finance, who will decide which assets and liabilities to keep or transfer to the government. Sylva said NNPC Ltd will now operate as a profitable entity that would declare dividends.
“The company will demonstrate higher a level of performance and accountability to continue to win the hearts of its over 200 million shareholders,” he said during a ceremony in Abuja, in a reference to the population of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.
Speaking at the unveiling, Buhari said, “The provisions of PIA 2021 have given the Nigerian petroleum industry a new impetus, with an improved fiscal framework, transparent governance, enhanced regulation and the creation of a commercially-driven and independent national oil company that will operate without relying on government funding and free from institutional regulations such as the Treasury Single Account, Public Procurement and Fiscal Responsibility Acts.
“It will, of course, conduct itself under the best international business practice in transparency, governance and commercial viability.” Buhari also noted that he led the creation of the NNPC on July 1, 1977. # Nigeria Commercialises NNPC, to Sell Share to Public
