Fifteen lawmakers, operating under the banner of The Economy Rescue Group, have called for the resignation of Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The group claims that mismanagement under Kyari’s leadership is contributing to the difficulties faced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. In a statement issued in Abuja by Hon Esosa Iyawe, the lawmaker representing Oredo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, the lawmakers insisted that Kyari should be suspended pending the outcome of a forensic investigation by the House of Representatives’ joint Committee on Petroleum (Downstream and Midstream) into the state of the national oil company and the downstream and midstream sectors.
The lawmakers accused Kyari and other NNPCL management staff of undermining Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda through corruption and incompetence. They called for their removal until the forensic investigation is completed to prevent any acts of sabotage.
Backing the House’s forensic investigation, the group highlighted issues such as the presence of middlemen in trading, indiscriminate issuance of licenses, lack of laboratories to check adulterated products, and the influx of adulterated products into the country. They advised President Tinubu to suspend the NNPCL leadership until the probe concludes.
“We the 15 concerned lawmakers state unequivocally that the woes of the Oil and Gas sector in the President Bola Ahmed-led administration are caused mainly by the failures and mismanagement of the NNPLC under Kyari’s management. Therefore, for this to be fixed, they should honourably resign,” said Hon Esosa Iyawe.
“In the event they fail to step down on their own, the President should not hesitate to suspend them pending the investigation embarked upon by the House of Representatives through its joint Committee on Petroleum: Downstream and Midstream.”
The lawmakers cited various issues uncovered by the House that necessitated the forensic investigation, including the presence of middlemen in trading, indiscriminate issuance of licenses, lack of laboratories for checking adulterated products, the influx of adulterated products, non-domestication of profits from crude marketing sales in local banks, and other anomalies. They also pointed out problems like the unfair subsidisation of petroleum products, racketeering in the Pro Forma Invoice System (PFI) regime, and delays in refinery rehabilitation.
“It is therefore obvious that the NNPCL management is out to undermine and is already undermining the Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda with corruption and incompetence, and they must be suspended to give room for an unhindered probe,” the lawmakers stated.
Iyawe recently moved a motion in the House, calling on the Federal Government to suspend the CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, pending an investigation into his remarks about the quality of petroleum products at Dangote Refinery.