The Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari has said that his life is under threat on account of changes in the country’s oil sector.
He spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Summit organised by the House of Representatives Anti-Corruption Committee,where he also said those opposed to changes in the sector have resorted to threats in a bid to have field day.
He added:“Without mincing words, I want to say that this industry is on a threshold of change, there is massive change going on and it is very expensive and of personal cost to many people including myself.There are threats to life, I can say this, I have several death threats but we are not bothered about this. We believe that no one dies unless it is his time.But this is the cost of change. When people move away from what they are used to something that is new that will take away value and benefit from them, they will react”
Speaking on fuel subsidy and its impact on the economy,Kyari said as long as there is arbitrage, smuggling and round-tripping will never stop.
He reasoned that NNPC Limited cannot be held responsible for some of the challenges associated with PMS and subsidy.
He added:“In some places, you are subsidising up to N290 on every litre. With this regime, it is impossible for you to avoid all the wrong things that are happening. Round tripping, cross border smuggling, document forgery—anywhere you have arbitrage, you will have these issues.
“As long as arbitrage is there, you will continue to have these issues and you cannot hold NNPC Limited accountable for it because it is a value chain that involves everything and everybody,” he said.
He also spoke on the failure of the NNPC limited to remit to the federation account,saying the country is unable to pay for subsidy, hence, the NNPC limited offsets the obligation with royalty, tax, and profit.
“Revenue not delivered to the federation account – why would an institution deliver revenue to the federation account? Without mincing words, you cannot eat your cake and have it. Today, NNPC by law is required to guarantee energy security, particularly by making sure that petroleum product is available across the country.
“We have made a law—the Appropriation Act provided subsidy on petroleum, but the state does not have the money. So, when I give you an invoice and you cannot settle it, therefore, you have no way of settling it except through offset against fiscal obligations. What fiscal obligations does the NNPC have? You cannot deliver on these fiscal obligations and still import products and sell at a sub-market price,” said.