By Samuel Ogude
Following the non-performance of the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited which has formed part of why Nigerians are passing through untold hardships , a group known as Niger Delta Coalition (NDC) has called for the sack of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari over alleged misconducts, among others.
The group which is a conglomerate of 26 youth associations across the Niger Delta region made the demand in a peaceful protest on Wednesday in Warri, Delta State.
A statement issued at the protest was signed by, among others, Mr Oris Bakpa, National Coordinator, Niger Delta Youth Alliance, Bridget Oghenekohwo, National Chairperson, Niger Delta Women for Change, Elvis Abebiyein, President, Niger Delta Youth Empowerment Network and Peter Okprgboro, Regional Coordinator, South- South United Youth Association.
In their protest to register their grievances, they stormed the entrance of the popular NNPC building in their hundreds at about 12;00 noon, chanting solidarity songs as they carried placards with various inscriptions :”Protect our Nation, President Tinubu, sack Mele Kyari among others.
The NNPC building located on the Warri/Sapele Roads, Warri, harbours the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Addressing Journalists, Bakpa urged President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action by removing Kyari from office and institute a comprehensive inquiry into his conducts.Accoding to Bakpa, the basis for the removal of the NNPCL boss was his alleged financial impropriety, misuse of authority, lack of vision, poor performance and autocratic conducts and among others.
His words:”Nigeria is blessed with abundant oil resources. Nevertheless, a glaring deficiency within the NNPCL is the presence of dormant refineries scattered across the country. Regrettably, despite the staggering allocation of N100 billion for refinery rehabilitation in 2022, these facilities, with a combined production capacity of 445, 000 bpd have failed to produce any refined products for the past several years,”
Bakpa lamented that the inability of the NNPCL to operate the moribund refineries has forced the nation to rely on the importation of petroleum products with the attendant consequences on the economy adding that, the ripple adverse effect of the over reliance on the oil industry was visible in the nation’s inflation rates which reached a staggering 25.80% in August 2023.
His word:” The implication of such high inflation figures is far-reaching, encompassing elevated cost of living, discouraging business environment and a palpable instability in the nation’s overall economic well-beings. Furthermore, the alleged irregularities in the awarding of oil production contracts have cast a shadow of opacity over remittance to the Federation Account, giving rise to grave concerns about transparency and accountability in these financial transactions.
As a collective of concerned and dedicated Niger Delta people, we vow to uphold the law and employ peaceful demonstrations as means to reach President Tinubu to remove Kyari from his position and launched an investigation into the leadership and management of the NNPCL with a view to addressing the urgent issues of the refinery rehabilitation, he added.
Bakpa, however, noted that there was no increase in crude oil production and remittance to the Federation Account under the leadership of Kyari.
In his response, a senior staff in the NMDPRA advised the protesters to take their case to Abuja, the nation’s capital where it would be properly addressed rather than disrupting activities at NNPC building