NEITI commends NNPC for publicly declaring audited accounts

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has commended the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for publicly declaring its audited accounts for the first time in its history with the publication of its 2018 Audited Financial Statement (AFS) on its website.

NEITI acknowledges that declaring the assets fulfils a pledge made by the GMD of NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, to the management of NEITI at a meeting on 6th August 2019, a pledge which Mr. Kyari reiterated on 25th November 2019 during the official visit to Nigeria of Mr. Mark Robinson, the Executive Director of the global EITI.

In a statement by Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Director, Communications and Advocacy, the agency said that during the August 2019 advocacy meeting, the NEITI management had urged the GMD of NNPC to consider demonstrating his espoused commitment to transparency by making public the corporation’s audited accounts. Mr Kyari acceded to the request on the spot.

“We welcome the eventual fulfilment of this important pledge and obligation” said Waziri Adio, the Executive Secretary of NEITI. “Given NNPC’s antecedents and its prominent role in the sector and in the country, the publication of its audited accounts are positive, signalling more openness for the oil and gas sector and for Nigeria.”

“When combined with the monthly reports that NNPC started publishing in 2016, this development marks a sea-change for a national oil company that used to be renowned for opacity,” Mr Adio added. “We urge NNPC to make this a routine practise and to mainstream transparency into all facets of its operations.”

NEITI calls on NNPC to go further by publishing its previous audited accounts and in open data formats so that the reports can be more accessible to citizens who are the shareholders of the corporation.

It also urged NNPC to strengthen and sustain its commitment to data disclosure, while pledging to maintain working closely with the NNPC through a joint committee on remediation and mainstreaming.

The committee, set up by the two organisations, was tasked with the responsibilities of examining the status of legacy and other lingering issues about NNPC in NEITI’s reports over the years and to recommend workable strategies for resolving the issues.

The committee was also charged to devise action plans on systematic disclosure of information on NNPC’s operations in an open and accessible format, as well as data mainstreaming, among others.

The work of the NEITI-NNPC joint committee on addressing the remedial issues is already at an advanced stage and the report will be made public very soon, the statement added.