NNPC remitted a paltry sum of just $2.7bn to the CBN during the first six months on this year

STATE-owned energy conglomerate the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) remitted a paltry sum of $2.7bn into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts between January and June this year due to the downturn in the global oil economy.

Contradicting CBN claims that the weakening value of the naira was caused by the non-remittance of funds into Nigeria’s foreign reverses by the NNPC, a recently-published document showed that out of the $2.7bn the oil giant remitted, $645m was for a dividend paid by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company. It added that $1.786bn was from the operational activities of the national oil company, which recently transited into a limited liability company.

In its reaction to the crash in the value of naira against the US dollar, the CBN had said the non-remittance of dollars by NNPC precipitated the forex crisis. In a report titled The Forex Question in Nigeria: Fact Sheet, the CBN reportedly stated that there had been zero-dollar remittance to the country’s foreign reserve by the NNPC.

A breakdown of NNPC remittances showed that funds into the oil firm’s accounts in CBN include $18,770,418.97 in January, $194, 563, 276.49 in February and $373, 232,875.20 in March. Remittances for the rest of the six months were $247,884,295.52 in April, $591,565,425.41 in May and $880,906,761.81 in June 2022.

On Wednesday, the Senate decided to invite the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele to explain why the naira had kept losing value and to proffer the way forward out of the crisis. Mr Emefiele had blamed the rapid depreciation in the value of the naira on numerous factors.

In 2018, it blamed the forex crisis on the importation of items that should have been manufactured in Nigeria, leading to the ban of forex allocation for 41 items. In 2021, the blame was shifted to bureau de change operators, who were accused of illegal forex trading and this year, the bank blamed the forex crisis on money laundering and activities of those allegedly funding terrorism, as well as politicians.

This recent figure of $2.7bn is exceptionally low, given that oil and gas exports account for about 90% of federal government revenue. At times like this when oil prices are relatively high at above $100 a barrel, the NNPC manages to remit as much as $50bn a year to the CBN.