By: Ifeanyi Izeze
The recent wave of protests at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation at the Federal Ministry of Justice Headquarters in Abuja, demanding the probe of the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, should have been hailed as a step in the right direction but for the obvious fact that the campaigners are leaving out where problem of the endemic malfeasance in the nation’s apex oil concern is embedded and facing a mere accomplice.
Kyari was removed from office on April 2 by President Bola Tinubu who replaced him with Bayo Ojulari. Kyari was NNPCL helmsman for nearly six years, occupying office from July 2019 to April 2, 2025.
On Wednesday, the lawyers under the auspices of the “Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law” seeking Kyari’s probe marched to the Federal Ministry of Justice headquarters in Abuja to submit a formal petition dated April 23, 2025.
The document was co-signed by the group’s convener, Emmanuel Agada, and National Secretary, Jonathan Uchendu. It accuses Kyari of overseeing a corrupt and opaque administration at NNPCL.
Wednesday’s protest was the second consecutive day of public demonstrations outside the AGF’s office.
Earlier on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, another group, “Concerned Citizens Against Corruption,” also demanded a full investigation into NNPCL’s financial activities over the past five years.
No doubt, the character of the protesters/crowd on both days looked very much the same but that’s not the issue here.
In their petition, the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law alleged that Kyari ran the NNPCL “as a racket in favour of his friends and associates.”
Among the allegations listed in the petition are inconsistencies in the reported rehabilitation of state-owned refineries.
The group highlighted the claim that Matrix Energy Limited invested $400m in the Port Harcourt Refinery, despite a prior $1.5bn approval from the Federal Executive Council for the same project.
Further, the group claimed that NNPCL accrued a debt of over $2bn to Matrix Energy, allegedly serviced through a crude-for-loan arrangement involving the daily allocation of 80,000 barrels of crude oil. The petition questions the legitimacy and transparency of such transactions.
The lawyers raised key questions including how the Federal Government, through the NNPCL, accumulated a $2bn debt to Matrix Energy, why the debt is being repaid through crude oil allocations, who negotiated the agreement, and why the public has been left uninformed about the entire deal.
They urged the AGF to review all agreements signed under Kyari’s administration, investigate the transactions with a view to recovering any misappropriated funds, quantify any financial losses and recommend recovery strategies, and establish a commission of inquiry into NNPCL’s refinery rehabilitation projects.
Now, this whole issue of gross malfeasance and opacity in the NNPCL need to be properly situated if at all we are serious about putting a check to it.
Tragically, Mele Kyari carried himself very differently from most group managing directors before him. As the NNPCL boss, he talked callously and also dealt treacherously as if he was untouchable. Recall his demeanour during the Dangote Refinery controversy that made all of us suspicious of his genuine intentions.
How many can we count: going to foreign creditors to borrow billions of dollars staking our yet-to-be-produced crude as collateral amongst many other serious travesties in the nation’s oil business. Mele Kyari was first in so many areas as the helmsman at the NNPCL. It was in Mele Kyari we first saw an NNPC Manager going to foreign banks to borrow money to “stabilize the free-falling Naira.” He supervised the unbundling of the NNPC only to create more room for himself. Kyari under the Buhari regime was indeed a total mess nothing more, nothing less.
But nay, in all these, does anyone think Kyari had the guts and/or powers to unilaterally do most of the transaction we heard of involving NNPCL and our oil? Now let’s look at it.
The question should be: who is actually responsible for the endemic corruption in the national oil company and ultimately the attendant gross inefficiency of the NNPCL, the administrators of the outfit or government at the highest level in the Presidency?
All those importing petroleum products for our domestic use; those involved in the crude-for-product-swap deals; lifters of the balance of the federal government shares of the joint venture- produced crude oil etc., do they usually get the contracts directly from NNPC or from the Presidency who then orders the NNPC to work with the contractors? Anybody who thinks Mele Kyari as the NNPCL boss had the powers to unilaterally do these deals is obviously missing the point.
It was naturally because of the rot Kyari saw being introduced into the management of our oil money especially under the Buhari administration that may have encouraged him to also help himself by slicing huge chunks from our national cake. If the ones who runs the government can do these kind of things, do they have the moral stand to ask me not to help myself. That must have been his mindset!
Kyari’s alleged misdeeds is not a Bola Tinubu government thing. Terrible or more aptly, gory things happened with the NNPC(L) under the Buhari Presidency. It also happened under the Jonathan Presidency, the only difference was that Jonathan did not give himself the office of the Minister of Petroleum. He had a thoroughly exposed oil woman to superintend the sector who also turned herself into a goddess that needed to be worshipped. And that’s why she is into the mess she is today with all kinds of accusations of corruption majority of which are mere trumped- up charges by those she prevented from having a feast on NNPC and our oil money.
General Obasanjo started this absurd thing of a sitting President allotting himself the Office of the Petroleum Minister. Though in his case, he had a thorough bred oil man, Rilwanu Lukman, of blessed memory. to direct and lead him but that does not make it less absurd.
Those who know would agree that every government comes with its own powerful cartels who most times prefer to deal directly with the President of the Federal Republic on oil business transactions, who incidentally or rather traditionally happens to now be the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources.
So it’s impossible to checkmate these mafias since powerful elements in government including the President (s), Chief of Staff, Attorney Generals of the Federation, National Security Advisers either by design or outright commission are all members or are being fronted for in this evil conspiracy against our common interest in the nation’s oil business.
Is it not absurd that since the inception of the current democratic dispensation, all the crucial decision (financial, contracting) making powers of the NNPC has remained in the Presidency and whosoever finds himself at the helms of affairs in the national oil company must report directly to the President and/or some of his aides that carry themselves as Lords of the Manor.
And because of this dubious meddling of the Presidency in the day to day business of the apex oil concern, the NNPC has gotten to the point that it does not even respect its own budget. NNPC does not respect its own plans. NNPC does not respect due process in whatever it wants to do including going out to borrow monies from foreign creditors on behalf of the Federal Government to be paid with yet-to-be-produced crude oil from its joint venture operations and the activities of NPDC.
Mele Kyari may have many things to tell an Inquiry but wallahi, nothing is going to come out of such probe because he acted literally as an errand boy to the Presidency. The rot is going to continue until we find a way to stop the practice of the President single-handedly appointing the Chief Executive Officer (s) of the establishment? By that the milking powers of the Presidency over the NNPCL would have been grossly diminished. God Bless Nigeria!!
(IFEANYI IZEZE can be reached on: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)
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