Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has denied claims that the company paid the sum of N20bn to ghost consultants and stole multi-billion Naira tax due to the Ogun State Government.
A statement on Monday, 3rd March 2023 signed by NNPC Limited Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Garba Deen Muhammad, said that the allegation is false.
Muhammed said that NNPC Ltd as a responsible corporate organization does not have or deal with ghost consultants.
“At NNPC Ltd, the process of engaging consultants whenever the need arises is clear and verifiable and follows global best practices.
“It is therefore unfortunate that for whatever reason, the said online platform would make such a grievous allegation, mindless of the consequences of such actions, Muhammed said.
He reiterated that the claim of a missing N20bn is false and baseless.
He demands that Sahara Reporters retract the said publication immediately; and going forward, the platform should verify its facts before going to press.
The statement read, “The second component of the unfortunate report is related to Ogun State Government claiming a back duty tax liability of about Ni8bn, against an NNPC subsidiary, the petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Ltd.
“For clarity, PPMC had objected and challenged the claim through its Tax Consultant.
“Consequently, the Ogun State Government took the matter to court which is not unusual in business circles.
“The matter is currently before the court and NNPC Ltd will prove its case accordingly.
The NNPC Ltd strongly advised the said online publication to be mindful of the consequences of its actions before taking them.
“For a matter that is already in court, as admitted by the online publication, it is sad that any medium can arrive at such Subjudice conclusions as shown by the actions of the online medium, the statement concluded.
