Niger Delta organisation protesting calls for the immediate removal of NNPCL head

Niger Delta Coalition, a coalition of about 26 youth organisations from the Niger Delta, held a peaceful protest on Wednesday in Warri, Delta State, demanding the immediate dismissal of Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, for alleged misconduct and other reasons.

At around midday, hundreds of coalition members gathered at the entrance of the well-known NNPCL building to voice their complaints while singing songs of unity. They were carrying signs that read, among other things, “Protect our Nation, President Tinubu sack Mele Kyari now.”

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority are housed in the NNPC headquarters on the Warri/Sapele Roads.

At the occasion, the demonstrators gave journalists a statement outlining their grievances.

Oris Bakpa, national coordinator of the Niger Delta Youth Alliance, Bridget Oghenekohwo, national chairwoman of the Niger Delta Women for Change, Elvis Abebiyein, president of the Niger Delta Youth Empowerment Network, and Peter Okprgboro, regional coordinator of the South-South United Youth Association, all signed the statement.

During the protest, Bakpa spoke to the media on behalf of the Coalition and urged Tinubu to immediately act to remove Kyari from office and launch a thorough investigation into his conduct.

He informed reporters that the NNPCL boss’s ouster was being pushed because of, among other things, financial irregularities, abuse of power, a lack of vision, subpar performance, and dictatorial behaviour.

Bakpa bemoaned that the nation had to rely on importing petroleum products as a result of the NNPCL’s incapacity to operate the idle refineries, which had negative effects on the economy.

He said that the country’s high rates of inflation, which according to him peaked at a startling 25.80% in August 2023, were a result of the country’s over reliance on the oil business.

His statement that “the implications of such high inflation figures are far-reaching, encompassing elevated cost of living, discouraging business environment, and a palpable instability in the nation’s overall economic well-being” is accurate.

Bakpa was also concerned to see that under Kyari’s leadership, there was no increase in crude oil output or remittance to the federation account.

“Nigeria is blessed with abundant oil resources,” he continued. However, the NNPCL has a glaring weakness in the form of idle refineries dispersed throughout the nation.

“Unfortunately, these facilities, with a combined production capacity of 445, 000 bpd, have failed to produce any refined products for the past few years, despite the astonishing investment of N100 billion for refinery restoration in 2022.

“In addition, there are serious worries regarding the openness and accountability of these financial activities due to the suspected irregularities in the granting of oil production contracts, which have put a shadow of obscurity over remittance to the Federation Account.

As a group of concerned and committed Niger Delta residents, we promise to uphold the law and use peaceful protests to pressure President Tinubu to fire Kyari and launch an inquiry into the NNPCL’s leadership and management in order to address the urgent issues surrounding the refinery rehabilitation.

When reacting to the demonstrators, a senior member of the NMDPRA staff encouraged them to take their complaint to Abuja, where it would be appropriately addressed, rather than interfering with business as usual at the NNPC office.