Tinubu, Nigeria's Tinubu, approves a debt forgiveness of $1.42 billion for the state oil company NNPC

The presidency announced on Monday that Bola Tinubu had approved the cancellation by the Nigerian government of $3.85 billion in debts owed to the state oil firm NNPC Ltd. Tinubu is attempting to improve transparency and clean up NNPC’s books as the top?oil producer in Africa deals with soaring debt and low revenue.

The NNPC was given approval by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission at the November Federal Accounts Meeting held last 'week after a panel urged NNPC to reconcile its obligations towards the government. The write-off includes liabilities up to December 31, 2024. This includes production-sharing agreements, domestic supply obligations and repayment deals.

The NNPC has insisted that all revenues were correctly accounted for.

The goal of the move is to increase transparency and align fiscal ties with the government that heavily relies on crude revenues.

(source: Reuters)