Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has expressed its readiness to continuously work with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) in order to grow crude oil production, renewable energy and generate more revenue for the country.
The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, made this commitment when the Chairman of the NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, led the Governor of Sokoto State and the Forum’s Deputy Chairman, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, on a business visit to the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
Mallam Kyari said the NNPC was ready to work for Nigerians through the efficient exploration and exploitation of the nation’s abundant hydrocarbon resources, noting that the NGF was an important and critical stakeholder to the successes of the corporation’s operations.
“It is our job to deliver value for the teeming population of this country. The NNPC has no excuse but to deliver on its mandate by touching the lives of Nigerians in many positive ways. We will ensure steady and unimpeded supply and distribution of petroleum products and we will also ensure that the NNPC remittances to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) are enhanced,” Mallam Kyari assured.
He said NNPC’s operations would continue to drive the levers of production that would ensure steady generation of royalties and petroleum profit taxes from all its partners in the oil and gas value chain.
The NNPC’s helmsman stated that the corporation would work with the National Assembly and the NGF to ensure that appropriate legislations were put in place to guarantee a fiscal environment that would promote inflow of investment into the nation’s Petroleum Sector.
On transparency, Mallam Kyari assured that the financials and operations of the corporation would continue to be communicated to the NGF and that the NNPC would continue to engage the Forum to make the operations of the Oil and Gas Industry smooth in the country.
He said the NNPC would continue to work with the governors to enact appropriate legislations to mitigate incidences of pipeline vandalism, noting that adequate security of the corporation’s pipelines would go a long way to improving the nation’s revenue portfolio.
“We would promote partnership with the states in the area of renewable energy in line with our plan to transform into a competitive global integrated energy company,” Mallam Kyari said.
He added that the NNPC would continue to work with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRs) and all other revenue generating agencies of government to ensure fiscal feasibility for the states in consonance with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) enable good planning.
Earlier, Dr. Fayemi congratulated Mallam Kyari on his well-deserved appointment describing him as a true emblem of transparency following his active participation and belief in the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
The Chairman of the NGF assured of the support of the 36 state governors, noting that they would continue to partner the NNPC and its leadership to deliver value to the Nigerian people.
“As governors at the sub-national level, we would continue to safeguard the NNPC’s pipelines as they run through our various states. We would partner and support the security agencies to mitigate the frequent infractions on the facilities of the corporation across the states,” Dr. Fayemi assured.