Assets of the nation’s oil company (NNPC) has been taken over by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) after 46 years of its operations as a corporation.
The take over of the assets which officially marks the birth of NNPCL took place at the corporation’s tower on Friday was done after attaining legal requirements within the stipulated 18 months in line with section 54 (3) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The corporation has therefore transitioned into a company whose operations will be regulated by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
In July 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, a landmark development that officially changed the oil firm from a wholly state-run entity to a commercial oil company, limited by shares.
The NNPC completed its incorporation in September 2021 weeks after the PIA was signed into law by President Buhari.
The NNPC Limited was then floated with an initial capital of N200 billion making history as the company with the highest share capital in the country.
The new entity is expected to become a commercially oriented and profit-driven national petroleum company that is independent of the government, although government bodies remain its shareholders.
Speaking on Friday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, noted that with the reforms introduced by the federal government, NNPCL is expected to be a competitive and commercially oriented company and it will be audited annually.
