By Moses Patience Chat
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said that the Federal Government is yet to make a decision concerning selling the shares of the Company to the public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Valuechain had earlier reported that NNPC Limited missed the deadline for the launch of its IPO, stating that this was contained in the oil company’s latest report.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, had during the transition ceremony in Abuja, stated that the Company would be ready to launch an IPO by mid-year in 2023.
In an IPO, the shares of a firm are sold to institutional investors that are interested in owning stakes in that particular company concerned.
However, when contacted by journalists on Thursday and asked to state what caused the delay in the IPO declaration, as well as whether the oil firm had fixed a new date for the public offering, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Limited, Garba-Deen Muhammad, said that it was not a decision of the oil company to make, but the government.
While responding to questions on how much NNPCL was targeting or expecting from the exercise, how much the share will be sold at, which investment banks were underwriting the offering, and whether ordinary Nigerians could buy the shares, Muhammad said that shareholders have not decided and that “it is not an NNPC decision. The Government decides when to sell, how much to sell down and at what value.”
