In its first full-year result since its controversial acquisition deal, NNPC Retail Limited incurred a loss of N395.5 billion, according to its financial statement seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
This contrasts with the N20.18 billion profit the company recorded in its 2022 financial statement, before it controversially acquired OVH mid-2023 and transferred the management of NNPC retail to the acquired company.
“The company reported a loss after tax of N395.5 billion for the year ended 31 December 2024 (2023: profit after tax of N20.18 billion).
“As at 31 December 2024, the company is in a net liability position of N278.8 billion (2023: N79.51 billion) and a net current liability position of N423.6 billion (2023: net current assets of N29.62 billion),” the report said.
The latest report, titled “Annual report, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024” comprises the financial information of NNPC Retail Limited (the Company) and its subsidiaries, Apapa SPM Limited (ASPM) and NNPC Retail Limited Togo S.A (together the Group).
The subsidiaries are controlled by NNPC Retail Limited.
It explained that these consolidated and separate financial statements cover the period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 with comparative figures for the financial year from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 for both Group and Company.
For the year ended 31 December 2024, the report said the group reported a loss after tax of N391.1 billion (2023: profit after tax of N20.08 billion).
It noted that as at 31 December 2024, the Group was in a net liability position of N269.7 billion (2023: net assets of N82.25 billion) and a net current liability position of N434.1 billion respectively (2023: net current assets of N28.96 billion).
Concern
According to the report, in preparing the consolidated and separate financial statements, the directors assessed the Group’s and the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future.
The directors attributed the losses to non-recurring transactions, including impairment of receivables and reconciliation differences on intercompany ledger balances, which are not expected to recur in future periods.
“The loss recorded in the current year was largely driven by non-recurring transactions including an impairment of receivables amounting to N117 billion and an amount of N133.9 billion expensed in the current year, relating to reconciliation differences on intercompany ledger balances. These items are not expected to recur in future periods,” it said.
The report added that the Group has historically been profitable, with both the defunct NNPC Retail Limited and the new NNPC Retail Limited (formerly OVH Energy Marketing Limited) reporting profits in the prior year.
“The directors expect it to return to profitability in the foreseeable future, supported by its established market share in the sourcing, distribution, retailing, and marketing of petroleum products in Nigeria.
“A significant portion of the Group’s current liabilities comprises balances with related parties, which constitute approximately 38 per cent of total current liabilities (N526.6 billion). Excluding these balances, the Group would be in a positive net current asset position.
“The related parties are under common control of NNPC Limited, which has provided confirmation of its continuing financial support to the Group and the Company for at least the next 12 months,” it said.
Controversial acquisition
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) announced in October 2022 the acquisition of OVH Energy Marketing Limited’s downstream assets. This acquisition would merge OVH Energy with NNPC Retail, a subsidiary of NNPC Ltd.
The assets acquired from the company, which operated Oando filling stations, also include a reception jetty with 240,000 metric tonnes monthly capacity and eight liquefied petroleum gas plants, three lube blending plants, three aviation depots, and 12 warehouses.
But in June 2023, PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation on the acquisition exposed the secret deals and the complicated ownership structure that left managerial control of NNPC Retail in the hands of OVH Energy Marketing.
The report also exposed that OVH Energy Marketing may not have owned as many filling stations as it claimed during the merger talks.
In addition, the report highlighted how Huub Stokman, an expatriate and former Chief Executive Officer of OVH Energy, emerged as the new Managing Director of NNPC Retail, a development that further compounded the structure of NNPC Retail.
This newspaper also found out that the acquisition of OVH Energy had turned NNPC Retail into a toxic workspace, with officials of the former taking over the latter’s running.
In July 2023, the House of Representatives, following the adoption of a motion by Miriam Onuoha (APC, Imo), directed NNPC Ltd to suspend the acquisition pending an investigation by its committee.
Consequently, the House, in September 2023, set up an ad-hoc committee with Hassan Nalabraba (APC, Nasarawa) as the chairperson to investigate the acquisition.
The ad-hoc committee requested the NNPC Ltd to furnish it with information about “registration documents/history from CAC for OVH, Nueoil, and NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Board Resolution of NNPC Ltd on purchase of OVH, Audited Financial Statement and Management Accounts from 2015 to Date OVH, Nueoil, NRL and NNPC Ltd” and the “payroll from 2015 to date for NRL and OVH, Board Resolution of NRL/CHQ for movement of head office to Lagos and evidence of Tax Payments for NRL and OVH from 2015 to date.”
The committee also requested documents on all financial transactions associated with the acquisition, including payment records and fund transfers.
In September 2023, the then Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, while appearing before the committee investigating the acquisition, said NNPC Ltd operated like a private limited liability company and entered the commercial relationship with OVH to take over market shares in the downstream petroleum sector.
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He said NNPC Ltd did nothing wrong in the acquisition.
Meanwhile, some NNPC Retail ‘concerned staff’, in a letter dated 25 September 2023, addressed to the Chairperson of the House Committee, and signed on their behalf by Mohammed Muazuo, noted that the request by the committee was not met.
In October 2023, Mr Nalabraba presented a report on the investigation. In January 2024, NNPC Ltd announced that it was unable to complete the OVH acquisition. It said it intended to apply for operating licences for the facilities under OVH Energy Marketing Limited.
In February 2024, the House of Representatives dissolved the committee investigating the controversial acquisition after the panel presented a report many lawmakers described as “suspicious and shabby.”
The task was subsequently transferred to the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) for a fresh investigation.
PREMIUM TIMES in August 2024, reported how a court ruling had effectively dissolved the NNPC Retail and transferred its ownership to OVH Energy Marketing Limited.
This newspaper also reported that the NNPC Retail, with registration number 826223, incorporated on 21 June 2009, and Nueoil Energy with registration number 1902885, incorporated on 8 March 2022, were dissolved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), while the OVH Energy Marketing Limited with registration number 655791, incorporated on 5 June 2006 remained active.
An official search by this newspaper at the time showed that the OVH Energy Marketing Limited, with registration number 655791, incorporated on 5 June 2006, had been renamed as NNPC Retail Limited.
In July 2025, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) commenced a fresh investigation into the acquisition.
