This Campaign Of Calumny Against NNPC Limited Has Failed

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 campaign 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.

One of such campaign of calumny is a sponsored “open letter to the President” which was published in some national dailies (Not THE WHISTLER). In the article, the writer alleged that the NNPC Limited has not achieved any meaningful progress since Kyari took over the mantle of leadership in 2019.

According to the writer, “The facts on the ground show Mele Kyari’s tenure as NNPC’s Group Managing Director, spanning over 4 years, has seen a troubling decline in the nation’s oil sector.”

In the article, the writer further struggled to push a narrative that when Kyari assumed office in 2019, Nigeria was producing 2.4 million barrels a day and the Warri Refinery was operational. He further claimed that more than four years later, Kyari’s leadership has left the country with an average of 1.4 million barrels a day and no working refinery.

“If BAT needs a definition of incompetence he need not look further,” the writer had stated in the report.

It is unfortunate that in the entire article, the writer deliberately refused to acknowledge the vigorous and groundbreaking reforms at the NNPC since Kyari was first appointed as the Group Managing Director of the oil company in July 2019.

That the writer could ignore the well documented progress at the NNPC Limited under the visionary leadership of Kyari is a confirmation that he is really not in touch with the giant strides being achieved by the NNPC Boss since he took over in 2019.

What the writer failed to understand was that on July 7, 2019 when Kyari assumed the position of the then Group Managing Director of the now-defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the corporation was in a near comatose state as it was laced with many challenges ranging from grievous oil pipeline vandalism, corruption, incessant oil thefts, low production levels and lack of transparency.

For instance, a 2010 joint report by Transparency International and Revenue Watch Institute found that NNPC had the poorest transparency record out of 44 national and international energy companies examined.

These scenarios fundamentally put Kyari on the spot. Kyari’s appointment which, however, came as a game-changer was with a clear mission – to revitalize the struggling corporation which it was known for then and send an unequivocal message that the corporation’s lukewarm governance narratives of the past are gone for good.

There was a lot of mess to clear, but Kyari was ready and he came in with his sleeves rolled up and expectedly, he didn’t disappoint.

Despite the numerous challenges that bedevilled the sector, Kyari grew crude oil production to an enviable level. As at September this year, the NNPCL crossed 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate combined.

According to the fourth quarter 2022 figures released, Nigeria has regained its position as the largest crude oil producer in Africa, ahead of Algeria’s 1.021 million barrels/day and Angola’s 1.088mb/d in November 2022.

With oil theft and pipeline vandalism overwhelming Nigeria’s oil business in recent weeks, the NNPC Ltd under the leadership of Kyari adopted the Saudi Aramco’s model of using video surveillance to monitor its pipelines carrying crude oil from wells to flow stations in the Niger Delta.

The NNPCL in collaboration with security agencies have also put up a control centre to provide surveillance of all the country’s oil and gas assets in the Niger Delta.

The surveillance system, known as the Central Coordination, Data Integration and Activation Control Room. Just like the Saudi Aramco, the NNPC Data Control Centre uses video visibility to monitor the country’s Niger Delta pipeline networks, where more than 90 percent of the country’s crude is explored.

Through the Data Control Centre, the NNPC has the capability to see and monitor the movement of vessels in the coast of Nigeria’s territorial waters in real time.

From the facility, officials of the NNPCL, working with operatives of the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies can determine, in real time, if a vessel is carrying out operations within Nigeria’s coastal waters legally.

Beyond arresting crude oil thieves and shutting down illegal refineries, the NNPCL under the leadership of Kyari has expanded the frontiers for crude oil production. One of the most impressive accomplishments of Kyari’s stewardship at NNPCL was the flag-off of the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi State in November 2022, marking the commencement of effort to commercially exploit oil in the Northern part of Nigeria.

It was deemed as one of the most massive projects as the Kolmani Oil Field, estimated to have a reserve of about one billion barrels of crude oil, OPL 809 and 810, lies in the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue Trough, straddling Bauchi and Gombe States.

The project will enable the country to transport two billion standard cubic feet of natural gas daily to power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, and various gas-based industries, boosting the nation’s socioeconomic growth.

In yet another move at blackmailing Kyari and the NNPC, the writer in his article made yet another egregious error when he claimed that “all produced barrels of oil in Nigeria today have been pledged by Kyari to borrow money to fund useless contracts in NPDC in cahoots with his Kanuri brother Ali Zarrah who is the MD of NPDC.”

But this claim has further exposed the lack of understanding of the writer about the workings of the NNPC after it became a Limited Company following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.

It is instructive to remind the writer that the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act which transitioned the NNPC Limited into a CAMA company has enabled the National Oil Company to have a very strong governance structure that cannot be manipulated.

The structure, allows for the best corporate governance procedures when it comes to the operations of the NNPC Limited. Currently, the NNPC Limited has three principles for it’s survival. They are profitability, energy transition, and sustainability drive.

It is a well known fact that the NNPCL under Kyari is deeply commitment to adhering to the highest standards of transparency and global best practices in all its activities and this includes its contracting process.

The contracts being claimed in the report by the writer were advertised and awarded based on rigorous evaluation criteria and in line with industry norms.

These contracts, which were advertised, were awarded based on rigorous evaluation criteria and in line with industry norms.

It is instructive to state that in a bid to show it’s commitment to transparency, the NNPC subjected the selection process to a competitive tender guided by Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) standards, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission expertise, and the active involvement of a Transaction Advisor.

The contract bidding process also saw representations from NEITI and the Ministry of Justice in the project development team and the evaluation exercise.

These contracts are Build, Operate and Transfer agreements, and selected partners are to finance the rehabilitation as the contracts do not entail the transfer of control of these assets to any particular company.

The NNPC’s objective is to enhance the integrity and functionality of the pipelines to facilitate the efficient transportation of crude oil to refineries and the distribution of its products across the country.

The ownership of these strategic national assets remains with NNPC Limited and would be operated in the interest of over 200 million Nigerians.

The writer again made another claim that International Oil Companies production partners are withdrawing all funding and investment in the upstream sector.

In a weak attempt to support his claim, the writer wrote, “The unspoken and sometimes spoken message from the IOCs and independent Nigerian producers is clear: they will not invest in Nigeria unless and until changes are made in NNPC’s leadership.”

But this is yet another feeble attempt to raise dust where non existed because the oil and gas industry has seen tremendous investments under Kyari’s leadership.

Arguably, the signing of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in August 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari has open the door for more significant changes as it gave birth to the new, refreshed, and rejuvenated NNPCL.

The PIA empowered NNPCL to operate like every private company in Nigeria with exemption from the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Public Procurement Act and TSA in order to ensure there are no excuses for failure.

Flowing from this milestone, Kyari, initiated new investment benchmarks to further rejuvenate the once ineffective company.

In September last year, the NNPCL sealed the acquisition of OVH Energy making it to add to its assets reception jetty of 240,000MT monthly capacity, 8 LPG Plants, 3 Lubes Blending Plants, 3 Aviation Depots, and 12 warehouses.

Also, Oando’s 380 fueling stations were added to NNPC’s existing stations making it the largest in Africa.

Through the deal, NNPC leveraged Oando’s coverage across Africa to become a leading energy company.

The acquisition, under the leadership of the GCEO of the NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, shows his vision to make NNPC a force in the global energy market.

The acquisition of OVH Energy in 2022 by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has boosted the profitability of one of its subsidiaries, NNPC Retail to N18.4bn in the first three months of this year.

Since the acquisition of OVH, the profit margin of NNPC Retail has jumped astronomically. For instance, in 2021 before the acquisition, NNPC Retail made N6.93bn profit. But profit has jumped to N18.4bn in the first three months of this year.

Apart from this deal, the NNPCL under Kyari in June this year sealed another deal with four National Oil Companies on the $25bn Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project

These tripartite MoUs were respectively and successively signed between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) of Morocco on one hand, and the Société Nationale des Opérations Pétrolières of Cote d’Ivoire (PETROCI), the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures of Benin (SNH-Benin), and the Société Nationale des Pétroles of the Republic of Guinea (SONAP) on the other hand.

The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco and was conceived during the visit of King Mohammed VI of Morocco to Nigeria in December 2016.

The Pipeline Cooperation Agreement for the project was executed in 2017.

Once completed, the project will enhance the monetization of the natural gas resources of the affected African countries and also offer a new alternative export route to Europe.

The pact marks another important milestone in the quest to tackle the energy poverty that has been limiting the potential of the African continent to boost industrialisation.

As a commercial enterprise, the NNPC Ltd under Kyari sees this project as an opportunity to monetize Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources, by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the African continent and beyond.

The footprints of Kyari in the oil and gas sector was also felt just last month as the NNPCL secured $7bn fresh investments from India for Nigeria’s petrochemical industry.

Kyari had accompanied Group President Bola Tinubu to India were the deal was announced

Tinubu had departed Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, for the G20 summit which was held from September 9 to 10 in New Delhi, the Indian capital.

The President’s visit to India was focused on attracting investments to Nigeria with lucrative opportunities for investors, but most importantly, jobs for Nigerians and new revenue opportunities for the country.

India is one of the growing markets for Nigeria’s Liquified Natural Gas and through this deal, the government will be able to create job opportunities for Nigerians.

In the area of gas infrastructure, Kyari also led the NNPCL to achieve a $300 million reduction in the cost of the AKK Gas Pipeline contract via contract renegotiation from the initial $2.8 billion.

In December 2019, Kyari achieved the closeout of the Final Investment Decision of the multi-billion-dollar NLNG Train 7 Project that has been on the drawing board for over a decade. This was at a time that the Covid-19 was taking its toll on the global economy.

He also successfully renegotiated the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline contract. The AKK Gas Pipeline is an integral part of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with a capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. The contract was renegotiated from the initial $2.8bin to $2.5bn, achieving cost savings of $300m in favour of the Nigerian government. Construction work on the project was flagged-off in June 2020.

He also led the signing of a $260m Financing Agreement for the Assa-North Ohaji South (ANOH) Gas Project with Seplat to deliver 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 1,200 megawatts of electricity to the domestic market.

Shortly after the removal of fuel subsidy and in line with the directive of President Tinubu to provide alternative fuel option, the NNPCL led by Kyari entered into partnership with NIPCO Gas Limited to develop Compressed Natural Gas stations across the country.

The move is part of the NNPCL’s commitment to reducing carbon footprint and providing cheaper alternative fuel to motorists.

The current initiative is in addition to the phased deployment of 56 CNG stations planned by NNPC Retail across the country.

This landmark collaboration aims to expand the country’s CNG infrastructure, improve access to CNG, and accelerate the adoption of cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel for buses, cars and Keke NAPEP.

This will significantly reduce the cost of transportation and engender sustainable national economic growth.

Under the NNPC-NIPCO strategic partnership, 35 state-of-the-art CNG stations will be constructed nationwide, including three Mother stations.

Once fully operational, the stations can service over 200,000 vehicles daily, thereby significantly reducing carbon emissions and associated impact on climate.

The project will be rolled out in phases, and the first phase, comprising 21 CNG stations, will support intra-city transportation and will be ready by the first quarter of 2024.

For the second phase, comprising 35 CNG stations, this will support inter-city transformation and will be ready by the first quarter of 2025.

The giant strides of Kyari in the oil and gas sector in the last four years is too numerous to mention and this is why there is a seeming confidence of the president in his leadership of the NNPCL.

So, rather than resorting to cheap blackmail that will yield no result, all patriots need to come together and join hands to support the National Oil Company under the dynamic and focussed leadership of Kyari in achieving the mandate of the NNPCL which is to guarantee “energy for today, energy for tomorrow.”

Onuba, a Chartered Accountant wrote in from Abuja