For years, NNPC was the black box of the Nigerian economy. Revenues came in, deductions went out, and the public was left guessing. That culture of opacity shaped everything from budget debates to national sentiment. Now, something different is happening. The national oil company is publishing audited reports, holding an earnings call, and inviting analysts to challenge the numbers. One of those analysts, former CFO and Chairman of M.E Consulting Limited, Mr. Victor Eromosele, has become a key voice in explaining what the new figures actually mean.
What happened
The turning point was simple and historic. NNPCL released its audited financial results for 2024. It followed up with a public earnings call that allowed analysts and journalists to ask hard questions. In a media chat, Mr. Eromosele walked the audience through the numbers and insisted on evaluating them in a fair, globally comparable way.
“When I read the report, the first thing I did was convert everything to dollars,” he said. The naira’s volatility meant that reading trillions in nominal terms would distort any analysis. “If you look at it in dollars you would find out that the top line instead of N45.1 trillion is actually 31.1 billion dollars. The bottom line instead of N5.4 trillion is actually 3.7 billion dollars.”
That single step changed the entire conversation. With the numbers converted, Eromosele could place NNPCL on the same scale used to assess global oil majors.
Who benefits
Investors, regulators, and the Nigerian public all gain from this clarity. Eromosele stressed that comparison is essential because “NNPCL seeks to be a globally competitive energy company and so you have to compare.” By looking at Chevron and ENI, he observed that NNPCL’s revenue was far smaller, but the real surprise came from margins.
Chevron posted 193 billion dollars in revenue and earned 17 billion dollars. ENI posted 198.7 billion dollars and earned 6 billion dollars. NNPCL, with 31.1 billion dollars, earned 3.7 billion dollars. The margins placed NNPCL at 11.8 percent, ENI at 6 percent, and Chevron at 9 percent.
His conclusion was direct. “Looking at the figures, it shows NNPCL did better. From that perspective of financial efficiency, we would see that NNPCL had superior profit margins.”
For an organisation that once shielded its numbers from scrutiny, this kind of comparative performance is a powerful signal to investors.
Who loses
Those who benefited from ambiguity, confusion, or political narratives lose ground. The old structure allowed endless speculation. The new one forces everyone to confront audited numbers instead of rumor. Every deduction, asset, liability, and margin is laid out in documents that meet international standards.
What it means
Eromosele did not stop at profit margins. He examined asset growth and capital discipline, two indicators that reveal whether a company is building value. NNPCL recorded 56 percent asset growth, something he found “significant” for a sector that had suffered years of underinvestment.
He also addressed why listing the company on the stock exchange now makes sense. Investors watch return on capital employed carefully. “What was NNPCL’s return on capital employed? NNPCL had 28 percent, and that was quite healthy,” he said. The previous year’s return was 23 percent. A consistent return above 20 percent is considered globally competitive.
These figures suggest a culture shift inside the company. Capital is being deployed with discipline, not political pressure. Projects are being evaluated for returns, and the company is acting like an entity preparing for a future listing.
The transparency logic
The broader structure created by the Petroleum Industry Act is what made this possible. NNPCL no longer acts as government’s opaque collector. It now sells crude, then pays taxes, royalties, and dividends through separate, auditable channels. This clarity allows bodies like NEITI to verify payments without wrestling with complex deductions.
Equally important, NNPCL now publishes IFRS-compliant audited accounts. These documents establish a permanent record that cannot be reshaped by political interpretation. Eromosele said plainly that the company’s behavior finally reflects the global standards it claims to pursue.
What to expect
NNPCL is still a work in progress. But the indicators show more than a temporary improvement. The company is beginning to define itself by performance rather than sentiment. If it continues on this path, a listing becomes plausible. Investor confidence rises. Public mistrust weakens.
Eromosele summed it up neatly. Once you remove currency noise and benchmark NNPCL globally, “one can say NNPCL actually did well.”
A shift from shadows to scrutiny
NNPCL spent decades at the center of national suspicion. Now it is choosing openness. Audited reports, earnings calls, global comparisons, and clear financial structures are reshaping its identity. The numbers no longer live in a black box. They live in public view.
If the old NNPC was built on secrecy, the new NNPCL is shaping itself around transparency. And in Nigeria’s most strategic company, that shift may turn out to be the most important reform of all.
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