NEC to set up committee over governors’ concerns on NNPC’s ownership structure

The national economic council (NEC) has issued a directive to set up a sub-committee to consider concerns raised by state governors over the ownership structure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Ltd).

The governors spoke at the council’s meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi-Osinbajo, on Thursday in Abuja.

In July, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Limited.

Buhari said the transformation would strengthen the capacity and market relevance of Nigeria’s oil industry.

According to a statement released by Laolu Akande, spokesperson to the vice president, Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer of the NNPC Ltd, presented to the council updates on crude oil production, PMS supply situation, and security intervention against oil theft.

After Kyari’s presentation, state governors raised a number of issues regarding the ownership of the new NNPC Limited, its assets and liabilities.

Following the misgivings raised by the governors, NEC resolved, and the vice president directed that a sub-committee of the council be set up to consider the governors’ concerns and liaise with the federal government on such concerns.

The council also received briefings from Uche Orji, managing director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), who in his presentation, said the NSIA closed the 2021 financial year with a profit-after-tax of N153.8 billion, slightly down by 1.9 percent from 2020 which was N156.5 billion.

Orji said the total comprehensive income declined marginally in 2021 by 8.2 percent to close the year at N147.0 billion, while 2020 was N160.1 billion.

“The NSIA has reached major milestones across domestic infrastructure in the year under review in terms of projects such as motorways, agriculture, healthcare, technology, gas industrialization and others.” he said.

The council also endorsed the report on the 2021 financial performance of the NSIA, commending the board and management for a credible performance despite the challenging economic atmosphere.