TheCable

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has faulted the zero remittance of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to the federation account in recent months.

Kayode Fayemi, chairman, NGF and Ekiti state governor, said this at the governors’ forum on natural energy, oil and gas at the fifth Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) on Thursday in Abuja.

TheCable had reported that NNPC made zero contribution to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in January.

“The NNPC contributed zero to the federation account last month. This is not the first time,” NAN quoted Fayemi as saying. 

“Of course, we know why; though the price of crude oil is going to about 110 dollars per barrel at the international market.

“The more it goes up, it seems like the more we suffer.” 

According to him, it was ironic that the NNPC continued to declare profit but made zero remittance to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

Fayemi said governors were concerned about the growth of the industry, adding that transparency, accountability and governance were critical in achieving this objective.

He said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was addressing some of the challenges facing the sector — though the governors had raised concerns regarding some of the provisions of the Act.

The NGF chairman also faulted the oil and gas sector as being on the exclusive legislative list of the federal government.

He explained that when he was the minister of mines and steel development, he reviewed the Act regulating the sector to accommodate more states and local governments’ participation.

He added that Nigeria should begin to harness its abundant gas resources as the world pushes for the transition to cleaner sources of energy. 

Also speaking, Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo state governor, said the country needs to end the petrol subsidy regime with immediate effect due to its unsustainability.

Akeredolu, represented by Rasaq Obe, the state commissioner for energy and mines, also called for increased crude oil production to about two million barrels per day to improve the revenue from the sector.