President Muhammadu Buhari plans to split the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into two entities, his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina said today.
Buhari, elected in March on promises to combat corruption, has made clear he wants to overhaul the oil sector in Africa’s biggest economy, which provides the government with around 80 percent of its revenue. “Mr President will soon split the NNPC into two entities. One will be an independent regulator and the other one an investor vehicle,” said Femi Adesina, who did not a provide a time-frame for the restructuring. “We can’t continue to be a regulator, a revenue collector and a business, all rolled into one. That gives room for a lot of confusion, obfuscation and misrepresentation,” he said.
Under the constitution, the NNPC is supposed to hand over its oil revenue to the federal government, which then pays back what the firm needs based on a budget approved by parliament. But the act establishing the state oil company allows it to cover costs before remitting funds to the government. Last month, the National Economic Council said the NNPC had earned 8.1 trillion naira ($41 billion) between 2012 and the end of May 2015, but paid only 4.3 trillion naira ($21.6 billion) to the federal government.
