– 7,338 staff each earns average of N29m annually
– Total emoluments higher than budgets of most states
Ike Amos
Dublin, Ireland — Staff members of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, received N212.3 billion in salaries, allowances and other emoluments in 2020, according to data released by the corporation.
The NNPC, in its recently-released 2020 audited financial statement, disclosed that this represented an increase of 14.25 per cent compared to N185.82 billion paid its staff as salaries, allowances and welfare expenses in 2019.
Giving a breakdown of the total payments to its staff, the NNPC disclosed that under short term employee benefits, salaries and wages of its workforce across all its subsidiaries and corporate headquarters stood at N112.046 billion, appreciating by 43.66 per cent from N77.994 billion recorded in 2019; while staff allowances also rose by 12.7 per cent to N68.425 billion, compared with N60.716 billion in 2019.
However, staff welfare expenses were slashed by 32.44 per cent, dropping from N47.11 billion in 2019, to N31.827 billion in the 2020 financial year.
Generally, total employee benefit expenses grew by 11.18 per cent to N397.017 billion in 2020, compared with N357.098 billion in 2019.
Specifically, total post-employment benefits stood at N182.834 billion in 2020, as against N170.392 billion in 2019; while long service awards gulped N1.885 billion, compared with N886 million in 2019.
States’ budgets versus NNPC workforce emoluments
Ironically, the amount paid to NNPC staff as salaries and allowances, was higher than the budget of most states in the country, whose population run into millions.
Specifically, the 2021 budgets of Bauchi, Kano, Sokoto, Enugu and Edo states at N213 billion, N177 billion, N176 billion, N169 billion and N164 billion, respectively, while the 2021 budgets of Jigawa, Niger, Plateau, Anambra, Zamfara and Kebbi states were N156 billion, N153 billion, N147 billion, N147 billion, N142 billion and N141 billion, respectively.
N28.9m annual average staff salary
Furthermore, the NNPC had as part of its open data requirements, disclosed that it has a total workforce of 7,338 staff as at April 2021, rising by 10.83 per cent from 6,621 staff as at April 2020.
This means that with the payment of N212.3 billion to its staff in 2020, the average annual salary and allowances, excluding pension contributions, of each of its 7,338 staff was N28.93 million.
The NNPC had in the release of its staff figures noted that of the total workforce, one staff and 484 staff were in the JS 2 and JS1 Grade Level (GL) category respectively; 50 staff, 1141 staff (comprising majorly the newly-recruited graduate trainees), 223 staff, 691 staff, 675
It added that Grade Level M6, M5, M4, M3, M2 and M1, which is the management cadre, had 610 staff, 409 staff, 140 staff, 44 staff, eight staff and one staff (chief executive) respectively.