By Enam Obioso
For years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) lived at the intersection of perception and reality, its reputation shaped as much by public sentiment as by its internal dynamics. That tension lingered in the air on Monday evening when Mr. Andy Odeh, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, addressed a select audience of journalists and industry experts in what he described as a long-overdue engagement, one designed to confront a problem that has followed the national oil company for decades: assumptions.
‘Reducing the Quantity and Quality of Assumptions’
Odeh spoke with the candor of someone who knows the industry’s sensitivities from within. Drawing on his two and a half decades at Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), he admitted that he too once shared many of the misconceptions about NNPC, until firsthand experience revealed the complexity behind its operations.
“Any opportunities we have to reduce the quantity and quality of assumptions are important,” he said.
The event, he explained, stemmed from an internal reflection two weeks earlier as the company prepared to release its 2024 audited financials. The goal was to open the books and the thinking behind them to a small circle of informed professionals. “For those who know the sector, you are actually the first advocates,” he told the room.
Representing the Group Chief Executive Officer, Odeh emphasized that the session was not about defending NNPC, but about building a fact-based dialogue that narrows the gap between perception and reality.
Numbers That Tell a Story
The numbers unveiled that evening were striking:
- Revenue: ₦45.1 trillion
- Profit After Tax: ₦5.4 trillion
- Revenue Growth: 88% year-on-year
- Profit Growth: 64%
- Earnings per Share: ₦27.07
In a year marked by market volatility, exchange rate instability, and inflationary pressure, the results pointed to a resilient organization executing with steadiness and discipline.
But beyond the celebration of figures, the night invited scrutiny, a conversation between facts and perspectives.
The Professors Weigh In
The first to speak was a Professor Emeritus, Wunmi Iledare who urged the company to focus more on cost efficiency. “Price is market-determined and volume is geological. Cost is the only lever NNPC can truly control,” he said.
He likened Nigeria’s relationship with NNPC to a football field where “every citizen feels like a petroleum expert,” a sentiment he said often fuels misunderstanding.
He also cautioned against expecting perfect outcomes overnight, given the company’s ongoing transition under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021. What matters, he said, is measurable progress, and on that score, NNPC had indeed advanced in six key areas.
Next came Professor Uche Uwaleke, a former state Commissioner of Finance and member of the FAAC Post-Mortem Committee. He recalled years when FAAC meetings stalled over NNPC’s reports. “This year is different,” he noted, pointing to PwC’s unqualified audit opinion and a profit increase from ₦3.3 trillion to ₦5.4 trillion.
He credited the performance to improved crude volumes, cost optimization, and stronger procurement processes. “This is a full year we can compare. This is an improvement,” he said, though he added that the company’s ambitious targets must be examined carefully.
The Questions That Remain
Uwaleke’s remarks cut to the heart of future expectations:
Can NNPC truly achieve 2 million barrels per day by 2026, and 3 million barrels per day by 2030?
Can gas production expand to 10–12 billion cubic feet per day within that timeframe?
And how soon will the refineries and the $60 billion investment pipeline become reality?
The questions were not confrontational but constructive, mirroring the company’s own acknowledgment that transparency is an ongoing process, not a one-time declaration.
A Company in Transition
NNPC’s 2024 strategy reflects its broader ambition:
- Increased upstream production
- Expanded gas infrastructure
- Continued capital expenditure (₦8.9 trillion for the year)
- Reduced routine flaring
- Growth in crude and LNG trading volumes
The session ended as it began, with candor and curiosity. For NNPC, it was an invitation to let experts and the public judge its progress through evidence rather than rumor. For the experts, it was an opportunity to test the company’s story against reality.
What emerged was not a debate over perfection, but a measured conversation about progress, accountability, and the long path ahead for Nigeria’s most consequential energy enterprise.
