NEITI Knocks NNPCL Over Failed 2.8tn Tax Payment

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited did not pay approximately N2.8 trillion in taxes to the Federal Government in 2022, according to the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

In its newly released ‘2021 Oil and Gas Industry Report’, NEITI stated that of about N3.5tn ($8.25bn at N448/$1 exchange rate in 2022) owed the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission during the period under review, NNPCL was owing more than 80 per cent (N2.8tn) of the outstanding tax collectable revenues.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, represented by the Permanent Secretary of Political and Economic Affairs, Esuabana Nko, during the unveiling of the report, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to support and deepen the implementation of the of recommendations of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Nigeria.

The report also stated how the state oil firm failed to remit more than N4tn to FG in 2021.

According to the report, the unremitted sum consisted of about $279m earned by the Federation from trial marketing under First Exploration and Production Joint Venture; $8m from Oil Mining License 116 operated by a subsidiary of NNPCL, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company; $871m unremitted domestic crude oil sales, and about $46m unremitted balance from the domestic gas proceeds account as of December 31, 2021.

While an aggregate sum of about $5.4bn was made from proceeds of export of crude oil sales, $5.8bn was raked in from the sales of domestic crude oil, and $648m from equity gas proceeds in 2021.

The total crude oil lifting and feedstock sales for the accounts of the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources in 2021 amounted to a total sum of about $4bn, the report said.