Nigeria’s NNPC turns commercial, hopes for era of accountability

State-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation formally became a commercial company on Tuesday, known as NNPC Ltd, in a move junior petroleum minister Timipre Sylva said would deliver more profitability and accountability. NNPC Ltd operates joint production ventures with Western oil majors but anti-corruption campaigners have long asked for the company to be more transparent, calling for the publication of its crude contracts and statement of accounts.

As a commercial entity, NNPC Ltd will no longer have access to state funds. Its shares will be held by the ministries of petroleum and finance, who will decide which assets and liabilities to keep or transfer to the government. Sylva said NNPC Ltd will now operate as a profitable entity that would declare dividends.

“The company will demonstrate higher a level of performance and accountability to continue to win the hearts of its over 200 million shareholders,” he said during a ceremony in Abuja, in a reference to the population of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. NNPC Ltd is expected to sell shares to the public in future.

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