By Adadainfo
Nigeria national oil company will become fully commercial henceforth after President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja launched the new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), saying the move guarantees Nigeria’s national energy security.
President Buhari at the occasion at State House Conference Centre said Africa’s largest national oil company (NOC) would also support sustainable growth across other sectors of the economy as it delivers energy to the world.
With the theme ”Energy for Today, Energy for Tomorrow, Energy for Everyone”, the president in a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, recounted how God had used Buhari to consistently play an important role in shaping the destiny of the country’s NOC in the last 45 years.
He expressed optimism that the NNPC Limited will sustainably deliver value to its over 200 million shareholders and the global energy community, operate without relying on government funding and free from institutional regulations such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Buhari said, ‘‘This is a landmark event for the Nigerian oil industry.
Our country places high premium in creating the right atmosphere that supports investment and growth to boost our economy and continue to play an important role in sustaining global energy requirements.
‘‘We are transforming our petroleum industry, to strengthen its capacity and market relevance for the present and future global energy priorities.
‘‘By chance of history, I was privileged to lead the creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on the 1st July, 1977.
Forty-four years later, I was again privileged to sign the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021, heralding the long-awaited reform of our petroleum sector.”
According to him, the provisions of PIA 2021 have given the Nigerian petroleum industry a new impetus, with improved fiscal framework, transparent governance, enhanced regulation and the creation of a commercially-driven and independent national oil company that will operate without relying on government funding and free from institutional regulations such as the TSA, Public Procurement and Fiscal Responsibility Acts. It will also conduct itself under the best international business practice in transparency, governance and commercial viability.
He added that the company would focus on becoming a dynamic global energy company of choice to deliver energy for today, for tomorrow, for the day days after tomorrow.
He thanked the leadership and members of the National Assembly for demonstrating uncommon courage and patriotism in the passage of PIA that culminated in the creation of NNPCL.
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