How NNPC spent 788bn on salaries, N13bn on entertainment, N20bn for phone calls in 2 years

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) incurred a total of N788.7 billion administrative expenses in 2021.

This is an increase from the N648.6 billion reported in 2020, bringing its total expenses to over N1.4 trillion in two years.

NNPC disclosed this in its financial statement for 2021, published on its website.

According to the report, the company spent N11 billion on entertainment in 2021, a sharp rise from the N1.8 billion spent on the same item in 2020. It also spent N46 billion on legal and professional fees, increasing from N24 billion in 2020. Also, N15 billion was spent on postage and telephone expenses, an increase from the N5 billion spent on the item in 2020.

According to the report, the highest chunk of the administrative expenses, N388.4 billon, went for staff salaries. The amount was a slight decrease from the N397 billion spent in 2020. Pension took another N150 billion, a decrease from the N182 billion spent the previous year.

The huge emolument cost came when the company was commercialised with experts expecting a downsize in staff.

Another N81 billion was spent on exchange loss – the cost of converting its oil earnings to local currency which rose by 100 per cent from the N42 billion spent in 2020.

The NNPCL also wrote off N71 billion for asset depreciation, higher than N18 billion recorded in 2020.

Despite issues of liquidity, the firm’s officials spent N10 billion on travels. The amount was N4 billion less than what was spent in 2020.

The company said it recorded over N6.4 trillion income which was higher than the N3.7 trillion it made earlier. The company spent N5.3 trillion in 2021 as cost of sales of petroleum products, more than N3.6 trillion spent in 2020.

For the 2021 fiscal year, the company made a net profit of N674 billion, higher than the N287 billion made in 2020.