Moving NNPC revenues to CBN timely – GMD

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, has said the decision to move revenues from crude oil sales to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was timely.

He spoke as the NNPC and the CBN chiefs met on Thursday to discuss modalities for the transfer of proceeds from crude oil sales to the apex bank even as the organisations set limits for the management of the oil firm’s revenues.

Recall that the president under the new arrangement, directed the NNPC to submit receipts for crude oil sales to CBN for vetting and documentation.

Receipts of payment for the oil sales are now to be forwarded to the apex bank with immediate effect in line with the new arrangement.

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Speaking during the meeting with the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, Kyari said, “Our decision to move a significant part of our revenues to the Central Bank of Nigeria is very timely. We have made that decision in line with the directive of our board of directors to maintain “a self-obligor limit with commercial banks.”

Kyari revealed that a significant portion of the NNPC revenues would now be managed by the apex bank, saying the oil firm was buoyed by the robust digital platform created by the CBN.

He said, “For us to do this, we do need additional support, particularly from the Central Bank to achieve this.

“We are a very huge company. Our transactions and liquidity levels are very high. Perhaps we are the largest company in this country and we are also very happy that the CBN has created a robust digital platform for our transactions and also created a department that would deal with NNPC issues and would create non-hindrance to our operation.

Meanwhile, the NNPC chief corporate communications officer, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement said both Kyari and Cardoso “reviewed the decision of the NNPCL to domicile a significant portion of its revenues and other banking services with the CBN”.

He said the meeting was also held to strengthen CBN and NNPC’s relationship to guarantee seamless commercial operation.