A deep-dive into the NNPC's finances: will the PIA solve its issues?

Last week, President Buhari signed the Petroleum Industry Bill into law making it the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and, apart from the CBN’s latest tech shenanigans, it’s what everyone’s been talking about.

One of the key changes the PIA has made concerns Nigeria’s National Oil Company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). For Nigeria, whose economy is still heavily reliant on oil, the NNPC is arguably its most essential entity. And for years, the NNPC’s operations were about as transparent as the Lagos lagoon—not so much transparency there. It wasn’t until 2018, after 41 years of the NNPC’s existence, that it published its first audited financial statement.

Now, thanks to the PIA, the NNPC has been incorporated into NNPC Ltd, a move expected to make the corporation even more transparent and also make it more efficient. But how bad are things at the NNPC? 

Today, we’re going to pretend to