The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said it paid N583.797 billion to its employees as salaries, wages and other benefits in 2023, rising by 118.71 percent from N266.933 billion in 2022.
The more than 100 per cent hike in the salaries, wages and other benefits of NNPC staff members in a one-year period was in stark contrast to the fate of other government employees in the country who are battling to get the federal and state governments to approve a minimum wage of N70,000 monthly, in the face of rising inflation.
In addition, the N583.8 billion NNPC paid to its staffers as salaries, wages and other benefits is higher than the 2024 budgets of Abia State (N567.2 billion), Enugu (N521.6 billion), Bayelsa (N489.4 billion), Kaduna (N458.3 billion), Katsina (N454.3 billion), Oyo (N438.4 billion), Kano (N437.3 billion) and Zamfara (N426.6 billion).
In fact, only seven states in the country— Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Ogun, Niger and Imo states — have budgets above the sum NNPC is paying its staff members as salaries, at N850 billion, N793.5 billion, N725 billion, N703 billion, N614 billion and N592.2 billion, respectively.
Breakdown
Giving a breakdown of its staff emoluments in its audited statement for the 2023 financial year, the NNPC stated that salaries and wages rose by 207.91 per cent to N226.873 billion in 2023, from N73.681 billion in 2022; while staff allowances rose sharply by 208.91 per cent, from N58.215 billion in 2022 to N179.83 billion in 2023.
In addition, staff welfare expenses doubled, rising by 109.26 per cent to N77.193 billion in 2023, from N36.889 billion in 2022.
It is instructive to note that as at December 2023, the NNPC said it had a total of 5,710 staff members, hence, analysis of various emoluments subheads showed that for each employee.
The average staff salaries and wages for the year comes to N39.73 million, which is N3.31 million per month; average staff allowances for the year was N31.5 million, translating to N2.62 million per month.
Also, average staff welfare expenses for the year stood at N13.52 million for each staff, translating to N1.13 million per month. Generally, each NNPC staffer receives an average of N7.06 million per month in emoluments.
CEO, CFO, 5 Others Earned N36m Monthly
Meanwhile, the NNPC financials reveal that the company’s chief executive officer, its chief financial officer, general counsel and four executive vice presidents received N3.051 billion as emoluments in 2023, higher by 133.26 per cent than the N1.308 billion they received in 2022.
This means that the seven senior executive members of the company received an average emolument of N435.86 million in 2023, translating to an average of N36.32 million per month.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, GCEO, of the NNPCL is Mele Kyari; the Chief Financial Officer, CFO, is Umar Ajiya; General Counsel/Company Secretary is Chidi Momah; while its Executive Vice Presidents are Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, in charge of Gas, Power and New Energy; Ms Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, in charge of Upstream; Adedapo Segun, executive vice president in charge of downstream; and Mr. Danladi Inuwa, executive vice president in charge of business services.
The NNPC had few weeks ago stated that its total workforce stood at 5,710 individuals as at the end of 2023, comprising 4,648 males and 1,062 females.
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