A review of the financial statements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited revealed that its subsidiaries incurred short-term debts amounting to N83 billion in 2022.
According to the financial statements of the NNPCL for December 2022, Nikorma Transport’s trade and other payables (debts) amounted to N4.5 billion, West Africa LPG Limited’s trade payables stood at N79.2 billion, and Hyson Nigeria Limited’s debts were N15 million.
West Africa LPG Limited functions as a vehicle for the offtake, marketing, and trading of liquefied natural gas. On its website, the company identifies itself as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Ocean Bed Trading Limited.
In total, the debts accumulated by these subsidiaries amounted to N83 billion.
According to the financial statements of the NNPCL, these organizations also posted losses. The NNPCL noted that it could not realize any profit from Nikorma Transport and West Africa LPG because their accumulated losses exceeded the profits of the NNPCL subsidiaries.
For instance, the NNPCL’s share of profit from West Africa LPG was N807 million, while as of June 2022, the accumulated loss stood at N1 billion.
In another development, the NNPC spent N7 billion on entertainment expenses over the 16 months detailed in the financial record published in December 2022.
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Concerns about accountability within the NNPC have led to calls for the organization to publish its financial statements.
As of July 2024, the NNPC has yet to release its financial statements for 2023.
SaharaReporters also noted that, for instance, the NNPCL wrote off debts totaling N140 billion over three years, from 2019 to 2021.
One of the NNPCL subsidiary gave out loans worth N2 billion to employees despite recording zero profit in 2021.
Previous financial statements show NNPC funding loss-making subsidiaries amid operational concerns.
This development also comes where the NNPCL has been announced as obtaining different crude backed loans. In 2023, it was announced that the NNPC Limited obtained a $3 billion crude backed loan.
The Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has also accused the NNPCL Of failing to remit N2.8 trillion tax to the government coffers in 2022.
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