Omo! You don hear am? NNPC wey we sabi no be small matter right now! Dis company wey don turn commercial dey face serious wahala as dem dey owe N30.30 trillion naira. Na serious money be dat o!

According to wetin dem jam from audited financial statements for 2024, di debts wey NNPC dey carry go don increase well well—about 70.4 percent sharper than last year. Last year e be N17.78 trillion, now e don jump reach that crazy N30.30 trillion as at December 31, 2024. Na wah! E don raise gbege for di company’s cash flow and e get people dey panic for wetin go happen next.

Di fine fine report wey show say only eight out of 32 subsidiaries no get debt. E mean say plenty of dem dey drag NNPC down. Port Harcourt Refining Company dey lead di pack, wey dem dey owe N4.22 trillion, follow come na Kaduna Refining and Warri Refining wey dey owe N2.39 trillion and N2.06 trillion respectively. E be like say dem no fit operate well after dem don waste so much money for maintenance.

NNPC dey try make sense of wetin dey happen by cancelling significant debts wey dem owe to di Federation Account, about $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion. As dem dey push dis plan, dem still dey find way to sell parts of wetin dem get to make money and fix wetin no dey work.

For di financial report, NNPC talk say dem make Profit After Tax of N5.4 trillion from total revenue of N45.1 trillion which be increase of 64 percent and 88 percent from last year. But no be say all dem numbers make sense when you see say di total debt don increase na so we go need to recheck wetin dem dey do!

Di bullet point for all dis matter be say, NNPC need to step up dem game if dem wan really carry dem company go higher. Experts dey talk say as NNPC dey move from state owned to commercial entity, dem suppose sabi how to manage funds well, if dem no fit, e go cause plenty problem.

Petroleum economist, Prof Wumi Iledare don drop correct talk about di matter. E talk say NNPC dey need to start dey operate as proper business o, no be just for show. Di inter-company debt na serious matter wey fit cause wahala if dem no handle am well. E even talk say dis na governance test, if dem keep on dey allow di debts dey grow like dis, den na old wahala wey go come back again under new name.

Jeremiah Olatide from Petroleumprice.ng follow add say dis kind 70 percent increase no be small matter at all. E mean say dem dey reckless for financial side. If government no cancel some of di debts, dem for dey even face bigger wahala. Na why dem go suppose learn how to manage dis debts well to avoid serious issues for future.

At di end of di day, if NNPC no fit manage wetin dey happen for inside di company, dem go continue dey drag down even di small amount wey dem dey carry come in. We dey watch and hope say dem go fit find a way to deal with dis plenty debts before e too late. Dis na gist wey concern everybody wey dey trade, work or even live for dis naija wey we sabi.