The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said the N1.3tn debt of the Federal Government has nothing to do with the payment of dividends to the federation.
In June this year, the national oil company revealed that it was expecting a refund of about N1.3tn from the Federation Account as debt by the Federal Government.
It disclosed this when the inter-agency committee constituted by President Bola Tinubu was set to commence sitting to resolve the lingering debt row.
The Federal Government had accused the NNPCL of indebtedness to the tune of about N2.8tn, but the oil company had claimed that the Federal Government should first pay back almost N4.1tn, which was its unsettled outstanding claims for subsidy payments on petroleum products imports, supplies and distribution on behalf of the government.
The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya, stated this in a chat with journalists during the inter-agency committee constituted by President Tinubu moved to resolve the matter.
He said NNPC has remitted N123bn (N81bn as monthly interim dividend and N42bn as 40 per cent PSC profit oil) in addition to compliance onthe payment of royalties and taxes.
Ajiya said the action clearly shows that the company under the leadership of Mallam Mele Kyari is moving in a positive trajectory as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act.
Speaking with The Punch, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL, Garba-Deen Muhammad said the oil company had started to deduct part or all of the N1.3tn being owed by the Federal Government following the payment of an N123bn dividend to the government.
Muhammad said the payment of dividends had nothing to do with the N1.3tn debt of the Federal Government to the national oil company.
“Dividend payment is on projected profit and has nothing to do with the outstanding N1.3tn owed to the NNPC Ltd,” he said.
