PIA: Reps to transfer assets of defunct NNPC to NNPC limited

By Christiana Ekpa 

The House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee set up to ascertain the total inventory, assets, interests and liabilities of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited has unveiled plans to meet with the Chief Executive Officer of   NNPC Limited in the coming days.

The Ad-hoc Committee Chairman, Hon Kingsley Uju Chima who presided over the meeting, also stressed the need to interface with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

According to the provisions of Section 53(2-5) of the Petroleum Industry Act PIA, the government of the federation shall hold full ownership of the NNPC Limited with the share held by the duo of Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated on behalf of the government of the Federation.

Section 53(5-8) however stipulates  government’s intention to set in motion the process of immediate commercialization and privatization of the operation and future private ownership of NNPC Limited.

Section 54 of the Act further provides that: “all assets and liabilities of the NNPC will be transferred to NNPC Limited. The Minister of Petroleum and Finance are saddled with the responsibility of determining the assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC which are to be transferred within 18 months of the PIA coming into effect.

The Ad-hoc Committee also resolved to request for detailed information on NNPC assets, interests, liabilities and up-to-date audited reports from the CEO of NNPC Limited.

In a bid to achieve its targets, the Ad-hoc Committee also resolved to request for yearly audited reports of NNPC from Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) with a view to juxtaposing the NNPC audited reports with that of NEITI.

In his address, Hon. Chima observed that despite the abundant natural endowment, the oil and gas industry has been plagued with corruption, mismanagement, crisis, environmental degradation, lack of refining capacity, among others.

“The decision of the House is in sync with the provisions of Sections 88and 89 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [as amended).

“It is also hinged on the provisions of Section 54 of the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act. 2021.

“The legislative intervention is in alliance with section A 1.03 of the introduction part of the Legislative Agenda of the 9th Assembly (2019 – 2023) which states that, ‘the 9th House will seek to undertake reforms of critical sectors of the Nigerian society and economy with a view to improving the conditions that allow for investment, innovation and economic growth.

“Chapter 2 details the general administration of the oil and gas industry and other related matters.

“Chapter 3 provides for the host community development Chapter 4 introduces the Petroleum Fiscal Industry Framework (PIFF).

“Chapter 5 provides for miscellaneous matters, which deal with legal proceedings relating to any suit and other related matters,” he noted.