Fact Check: NNPC’s N287bn profit not first in 44 years

On August 26, President Muhammadu Buhari gleefully announced Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) declared profit for the first time in its 44-year history. A BusinessDay fact check however dispels those claims.

Although the audited report, which produced the figure is yet to be released, President Buhari said the 2020 financial report showed that the state oil firm made a profit after tax of N287 billion in 2020.

In a statement by the special adviser to the President, Femi Adesina, President Buhari said the development was a fulfilment of an earlier pledge by the Federal Government to publicly declare the financial position of the corporation.

Read also: NNPC attributes N287bn profit to cost control, automating process

“The NNPC losses were reduced from N803bn in 2018 to N1.7bn in 2019 and the eventual declaration of net profit in 2020 for the first time in its 44-year history,” Buhari said.

Findings

NNPC making profit is good; however, verification by BusinessDay showed NNPC’s audited statement showed the state corporation declared a profit after tax of N111.59 billion in 2017.