Nigerian National Petroleum Denies Paying N20 B To ‘Ghost’ Consultants, Calls Claims ‘Baseless’

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has broken the silence on a report, which claimed they paid N20 billion to ghost consultants and were being sued by the Ogun government over multi-billion-Naira tax theft.

Garba-Deen Muhammad, who serves as Chief Corporate Communications Officer at NNPC Ltd, said in a statement on Monday night that the claims made by media publication Sahara Reporters on Sunday were "absolutely false and baseless."

"NNPC Ltd wishes to state that as a responsible corporate organization, it does not have or deal with ghost consultants," Muhammad said, Punch reported.

"At NNPC Ltd, the process of engaging consultants whenever the need arises is clear and verifiable and follows global best practices," he added. "It is therefore unfortunate that for whatever reason, the said online platform would make such a grievous allegation, mindless of the consequences of such actions."

The firm further demanded the online publication should take down the report, noting that they should verify the facts before publishing such reports.

"For clarity, PPMC had objected and challenged the claim through its tax consultant. Consequently, the Ogun State Government took the matter to court which is not unusual in business circles," the officer explained. "The matter is currently before the court and NNPC Ltd will prove its case accordingly."

In the concluding lines, the company's Chief Corporate Communications Officer "strongly" advised the publication to be "mindful of the consequences of its actions before taking them."

The company's response came a day after Sahara Reporters' outlet claimed that the Ogun state government has dragged NNPC to the court "over unpaid tax liabilities running into N9 billion."

According to the outlet, a staff member disclosed details about the fraud by the company, and said, "massive fraud going on in NNPC because most of the principal actors involved are their people."

"The present leadership of NNPC stole triple more than their predecessor because the majority of the top management is from a certain part of the country, so there is no check and balances," the unnamed staff member told the outlet. "The incoming administration must re-organize the NNPC by making sure that the organization reflects the true spirit of federal character."

NNPC LTD is an oil company in Nigeria, which was formerly owned by the government, and later in July 2022, was transformed into a corporation. It was originally formed on April 1, 1977, and the headquarters is based in the capital of Nigeria, Abuja.

Mele Kyari serves as Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.