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Senator Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker representing Kaduna Central, has questioned President Bola Tinubu’s decision to cancel billions of dollars in debts owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to the Federation Account.
Sani, in a post on X on Tuesday, said debt forgiveness could be justified but insisted that Nigerians deserve a clear explanation of how the national oil company had accumulated such enormous debts of $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion over the years.
“Debt forgiveness is good, but how did the NNPCL amassed a debt of $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion over the years when it was supposed to be making profits?” Sani wrote.
He questioned how the debts were incurred and who was responsible, stating, “How did the debt accrued and who were those that dragged it to debt over the years…?”
The former senator added that NNPCL “sins shouldn’t just be forgiven without their confession or explanation.”
Sani was reacting to a report that President Tinubu had approved the cancellation of about $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion owed by NNPCL to the Federation Account, following a reconciliation of records between the company and government agencies.
The approval is contained in a document prepared by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and presented at the November meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
According to the document, NNPC Ltd’s outstanding obligations earlier presented to FAAC stood at ““$1,480,610,652.58 and N6,332,884,316,237.13 for PSC, DSDP, RA & MCA Liftings and JV & PSC Royalty Receivables, respectively.”
“However, the commission recently received a presidential approval to nil off the outstanding obligations of NNPC Ltd as at 31st December 2024 as submitted by the Stakeholder Alignment Committee on the Reconciliation of Indebtedness between NNPC Ltd and the Federation,” the report stated.
