FACT CHECK: Imran Muhammed’s Claims About Tinubu’s Plan To Replace Kyari With ‘Komolafe Or Verheijen’ Fake News

On Sunday, at about 5:16pm, a post was made by one Imran Muhammad on X (Formerly Twitter) with the caption “EXCLUSIVE: President Tinubu is considering to appoint, Gbenga Komolafe as Group Chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum company limited (NNPC limited).”

The post, which was made from his Twitter account @imranmuhdz, had been viewed by over 194,000 of his followers and reposted about 164 times.

But two hours later, at about 7:58pm, the same Iman Muhammad made another post with the caption “EXCLUSIVE: President Tinubu is also considering to appoint, Mrs. Olu Verheijen as Group Chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum company limited (NNPC limited.”

Curiously, the same author displayed his level of inconsistency by naming two different people as those that will be appointed as replacement for the NNPC Limited Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari.

Contrary to the inconsistent speculations of the social media post, findings by THE WHISTLER showed that there is no such plan by the President.

Presidency sources confided in THE WHISTLER on Sunday night that the President is not contemplating such a move.

Multiple sources in the Presidency told THE WHISTLER that there is no such plan to remove Kyari as the GCEO of the NNPC.

One of the sources said, “We saw the purported post on the plan by the President to replace Kyari. But I can confirm to you that there is no such plan by the President.

“There is no iota of truth in that post claiming that the President is planning to replace the NNPC GCEO. There is nothing to be worried about because the Petroleum Industry Act is clear on how the NNPC GCEO or any member of the NNPC Board could be removed.”

In the last few weeks, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited as an entity and it’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari as an individual have been under series of attacks from different faceless groups and individuals.

The attacks, which have been coming in various forms ranging from sponsored opinion articles, news reports, paid adverts, and editorials among others are all aimed at painting the National Oil Company and it’s top management executive led by Kyari in bad light.

The major purpose of these sponsored campaigns of calumny against the NNPC and it’s leadership, is to stampede President Bola Tinubu, who himself is the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to remove Kyari.

The target of the architects of these sponsored blackmail is to also push for the appointment of someone who will replace Kyari and ultimately do the biddings of the oil cabals.

Since the appointment of Kyari four years ago, the oil cabals who had hitherto benefited from the corruption in the oil and gas industry have been fighting against the reforms being implemented in the industry.

The reforms have transformed the NNPC operations, making it earn accolades both in Nigeria and abroad.

Only recently, the NNPC Limited and the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Malam Mele Kyari, won the 2023 Nigeria GovTech Awards for exceptional service delivery in the public sector.

While the National Oil Company won the Best Federal MDA in Digital Initiatives in Reengineering Government Processes Award, the GCEO carted home the Distinguished GovTech Trailblazer Award.

The awards were in recognition of the GCEO leadership’s proactive steps in activating the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that is hinged on digital automation of the company’s processes.

The single, sure-footed act of automation, emplaced to, among others, mitigate the effects of COVID-19, has brought about efficiency, high performance, and sustenance of the NNPC Ltd’s operations post-pandemic, for which the GCEO is now referred to as “Mr. Automation” in the industry.

Significantly, the GCEO, through the NNPC IT Division, automated Key Performance Indicator Dashboard across the entire IT Enterprise and Architecture, thereby improving reporting efficiency real-time performance tracking.

Kyari also activated Microsoft Enterprise Additional Licenses for NNPC Digital Transformation initiatives, leading to an estimated cost-saving of over $1m to the Company.

Both the NNPC Ltd. and the GCEO shone like a thousand stars at the venue of the awards at the International Conference Centre. The event had as its theme “Advancing Public Service Reforms Through Digital Transformation.”

The Nigeria GovTech Awards were given by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), an agency under the Presidency in aid of federal government’s initiative designed to bring governments at the federal, state, local levels, and actors in the technology industry together to discuss and identify new ways and emerging trends in which ICT could be used to transform public service and improve the general well-being of Nigerians.

In clinching the award, the NNPC Ltd, and its GCEO, Malam Kyari outclassed several other contestants in the public sector even as it was clear that the BPSR selection process was anchored on merit, thus strengthening the credibility of the selection process and the subsequent awards.

The DG of BPSR, Dasuki Arabi had commended Mele Kyari’s deployment of technology in driving business at the NNPC Ltd in addition to his exemplary leadership in advancing GovTech initiatives and digital governance within the nation’s oil conglomerate, in line with the Federal Government digital transformation in the public sector.