NNPC denies paying ghost consultants, will argue N18b tax claim in court
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Ghost consultants have not been engaged and paid N20 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), according to its spokesman in reaction to online reports.
The NNPC also denied a report accusing it of theft of multi-billion naira tax due to the Ogun government.
A statement issued by NNPC spokesman Garba Muhammad insisted the corporation follows global best practices in engaging consultants.
“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that as a responsible corporate organisation, it does not have or deal with ghost consultants,” he said.
“At NNPC Ltd, the process of engaging consultants whenever the need arises is clear and verifiable and follow global best practices.”
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Verification of facts
“It is therefore unfortunate that for whatever reason, the said online platform would make such a grievous allegation, mindless of the consequences of such actions. The claim of a missing N20bn is absolutely false and baseless,” Mohammed added, per The Guadian.
“The NNPC Ltd therefore demands that Sahara Reporters retracts the said publication immediately, and going forward, the platform should verify its facts before going to press.”
On the allegation of Ogun government claiming a back duty tax liability of about N18 billion – against NNPC subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) – Muhammad explained the PPMC has challenged the claim through its tax consultant.
He said Ogun took the matter to court, which is not unusual in business circles, and the NNPC will prove its case in court.
NNPC canvasses for $32.61b to revamp refineries, pipeline infrastructure
The NNPC disclosed in March about $32.6 billion investment is required to revamp refineries, pipelines and downstream infrastructure.
The amount was tabled by NNPC Downstream Group Executive Director, Adeyemi Adetunji, at a conference organised by the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Adetunji spoke of plans to co-locate an African Refinery around the Port Harcourt Refinery and a condensate refinery, and said a combined capacity of NNPC related refinery would hit 1.27 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude processing.
Abuja approved in March 2021, $1.5 billion for the overhaul of Port Harcourt Refinery and the NNPC awarded the contract to Italy’s Tecnimont.
Adetunji told the conference the refurbishment of the refinery is in top gear and would be ready in the second quarter of 2023.
The news comes after the contract for the overhaul of Kaduna Refinery was awarded to Daewoo Engineering Nigeria at an estimated maximum cost of $740,669,600 with a duration of 21 months.
Adetunji stressed the need to improve refining capacity in Africa along growing demand.
“We are on a journey of renewal and growth. The plan is to revive the existing refineries, make them functional and grow our supply capacity,” he said.
“In the next couple of years, this will grow to about 1.27 million barrels per day throughput for all the refineries, including the much-celebrated Dangote Refinery.
“We have another project that’s been developed now and at an advanced stage called the Africa refinery, which will be co-located at the Port Harcourt Refinery.”