Known for loss making in the past 44 years of its existence, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has declared a N287 billion profit after tax (PAT).

Although the audited report, which produced the figure is yet to be released, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said the 2020 financial report showed that the state oil firm made N287 billion in 2020.

Unlike other national oil companies, NNPC has been a loss-making entity, renowned for anomalies, undue political interference and shades of burden. In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President, Femi Adesina, the Nigerian leader, who is also the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, said the development was a fulfilment of an earlier pledge by the Federal Government to publicly declare the financial position of the corporation.

Following global pressure and public outcry, NNPC started publication of its financial operations. Last year, the group published its first audited statement for 2018, indicating that the corporation incurred losses close to N1 trillion. They were reduced in 2019 to N1.7 billion.

NNPC’s Group Managing Director (GMD), Mele Kyari, who came into office promising to open the books of the organisation, had repeatedly promised profit declaration.

“I am pleased to announce the declaration of profit after tax of N287 billion in 2020 by the NNPC. This is sequel to the completion of the statutory annual audit exercise for 2020.

“The NNPC losses were reduced from N803 billion in 2018 to N1.7 billion in 2019, and the eventual declaration of a net profit in 2020 for the first time in its 44-year history.

“This development is consistent with this administration’s commitment to ensuring prudent management of resources and maximisation of value for the Nigerian people from their natural resources,” Buhari said.

The President added that the state oil firm, which would in the next six month birth into a limited liability company, would publish its audited financial statements in deference to extant laws.