The group also called on President Bola Tinubu as a matter of urgent national importance, to suspend Mele Kyari and carry out full forensic audit of the old NNPC and the new NNPCL under his watch.

Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in conjunction with Allied civil society organizations under the aegis of coalition of national civil society organizations against inept leaders has called on NNPCL GCEO Mele Kyari to Obey Court order and publicly disclose the whereabouts of proceed of stolen 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny light crude stolen and stored in china since 2015.

Professor Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr (Convener, Countryfirst movement) Comrade James Ezema (Deputy National Publicity secretary CNPP), and Alhaji Ali Abacha (National secretary, coalition of Nigeria civil society organization) while addressing journalist in a world press conference in Abuja said the NNPC/NNPCL has been at the center of the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light Crude in China since 2015 valued at 4.8 billion dollars at $100/barrel as leaked by a whistle-blower.

Nwaokobia said beyond preventing lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional oversight functions of probing oil theft cases, using the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr Mele Kolo Kyari has also refused to obey the order of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to disclose and publish, in the interest of the public, the whereabouts of the proceeds of the sale of the 48 million Barrels of Bonny light Crude Oil Stolen from Nigeria and stored in china under his watch.

According to the Coalition a federal high court Judge, Justice F.A. Aliyu, made an order on July 12, 2023 and Since the order was made, till date, Engr Kyari has carried on as though the court did not exist, let alone issuing an ordered.

The full Text Of CNPP And the CSOs Press Conference reads:

Gentlemen of the Press,
You are all welcome to this most important world press conference, the first by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties in collaboration with the civil society, non-governmental organizations, since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over from General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) on May 29, 2023.

From 2015 until the end of the two tenure of the last administration, Nigerians were subjected to increasing hardship under the All Progressives Congress (APC). The coming of the current administration took the suffering of the masses to an unprecedented level since independence in 1960.
One major challenge every administration in the country has faced is how to make the life of ordinary citizens better.

Every government has complained of lack of adequate income to cater for the well-being and other needs of the citizens. This has been blamed on Nigeria’s over dependence on oil as the main source of foreign exchange.
In recent times, especially in the eight years of the Buhari administration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), formerly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has been replete with controversies bordering on corruption, incomplete remittances of revenues to the Federation Account and outright withholding of revenues that should have been remitted to the Federation Account. But the other leg of the unending controversies involving the NNPCL has to do with allegations of complicity in the ongoing oil theft saga in Nigeria. It is so worrisome that the NNPCL is unable to reasonably account for why Nigeria can’t meet it’s OPEC oil quota annually amid allegations of illegal crude oil sales.

CRUDE OIL THEFT IN NIGERIA

Recently, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, confirmed that Nigeria has lost about $46 billion (N16. 25 trillion) to crude oil theft so far. He made the revelation while inaugurating an ad hoc committee to investigate crude oil theft, mandating the committee to look into the loss of revenue and the menace caused by crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020.

He lamented, like we all have done in the last eight years, that oil theft has drastically hampered the growth of the country’s oil production, with Nigeria losing between 5 percent and 30 percent of daily production.

The speaker had cited data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), saying that the country’s oil production declined from 2.51 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2005 to 1.77 million bpd in 2020.
Rt.Hon. Abbas observed that “NEITI reports also show that 619 million barrels of crude valued at $46 billion were stolen in the period 2009-2020. Nigeria has continually failed to meet its daily production quota as set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).”

Despite further reduction of Nigeria’s OPEC quota from 1.742 million barrels per day to 1.38 million barrels per day in recent times, the country is still struggling to meet this quota as daily production output was 1.184 million barrels per day and 1.249 million barrels per day in May and June 2023 respectively.

This is a country that is borrowing beyond limit to even afford to service debts and meet recurrent expenditures. From available data, on average, Nigeria’s current daily production output is a far cry from this year’s budget assumption of 1.69 million per day. Every citizen knows the implication.

It is reflected in the economic crisis that the country is facing today. The major reason why Nigerians are suffering and the Federal and state governments are unable to execute any meaningful infrastructural projects is due to corruption and failure of the NNPCL under Engr. Mele Kyari to remit revenues to the Federation Account.

48 MILLION BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL STOLEN IN NIGERIA, STORED AND SOLD IN CHINA UNDER MELE KYARI’S WATCH

Beyond refusal to accurately account for revenues received on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the NNPC/NNPCL has been at the center of the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light Crude in China in 2015, valued at 4.8 billion dollars at $100/barrel as leaked by a whistle-blower.

In December 2022, the 9th House of Representatives had resolved to constitute an ad hoc committee to investigate the whistle-blower’s allegation of illegal sale of the crude and the insurance status of the cargo involved. The committee was also to investigate all crude oil exports and sales by Nigeria from 2014 to 2022 with regards to quantity, insurance, revenue generated, remittances into the Federation Account or other accounts as well as utilisation of the revenue for the period under review.

The investigative panel was to probe all proceeds recovered through the Whistle-Blowers Policy of the Buhari’s regime and the level of compliance by the policy. The committee was to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

The House of Reps’ resolutions to carry out the investigation followed a unanimous adoption of a motion moved by a member of the 9th House, Ibrahim Isiaka, titled ‘Alleged Loss of over $4.8 Billion in Revenue from Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Export in 2015, Including Crude Oil Exports from 2014 till Date.’

According to him, “The House is aware of the allegations by a whistle-blower in July 2020 that he (the whistle-blower) had in July 2015, and in response to the current administration’s whistle-blower policy, brought to the attention of a committee purportedly set up by the President for the recovery of missing crude oil exports, the existence of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil in storage at several ports in China, ostensibly under the authorisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and the intention of parties in China and the NNPC to sell this cargo.”

ALLEGED INTERFERENCE IN STOLEN CRUDE OIL PROBE

In February 2023, the Ad hoc Committee openly accused the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, as well as the INTERPOL, of interference in the committee’s investigation.

The Chairman, House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft, Mark Gbillah had said, “There is a group called Advocacy for Good Governance and Free Nigeria. That is the so-called Civil Society Organisation that wrote to the Attorney General claiming there was this international gang of blackmailers trying to blackmail senior officials of the government. How come the Attorney General responded to allegations by a faceless body? That means the Attorney General himself did not ascertain the veracity of any organisation.”

Of course, the Reps panel was not satisfied with the submission of Interpol, it accused the AGF of interfering with the investigation of the House. However, in his reaction, the Head of the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL Nigeria, Garba Umar, had said the Bureau only acted on the request of the AGF.

The investigative committee had feared that the safety of the whistleblower would be in danger and insisted that the Ministry of Justice should not be making direct requests to Interpol but should go through the police, as Interpol by law is only expected to respond to requests by local law enforcement agencies.

As expected, the investigation became inconclusive and the tenure of the 9th House of Representatives lapsed.
There were reports that in their desperation, the NNPCL’s GCEO, Mele Kolo Kyari, and the Chief Financial Officer of the company, Umar Ajiya, jetted out of the country to far away Saudi Arabia in April 2023 to lobby the then President, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), under the guise of performing the lesser Hajj and to meet the then President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It was in their desperate efforts to remain in office. It’s not certain whether they succeeded in meeting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu but the NNPCL has remained in the midst of allegations of corruption and covering of tracks for oil thieves through destruction of evidences, include the unceremonious burning of vessels caught with stolen crude oil without investigation or prosecution of the oil thieves.

ORDER OF THE COURT

Beyond preventing the lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional oversight functions of probing oil theft cases, using the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr Mele Kolo Kyari has also refused to obey the order of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to disclose and publish, in the interest of the public, the whereabouts of the proceeds of the sale of the 48 million Barrels of Bonny light Crude Oil Stolen from Nigeria and stored in china under his watch.

The presiding Judge, Justice F.A. Aliyu, made the order on July 12, 2023. Since the order was made, till date, Engr Kyari has carried on as though the court did not exist, let alone issuing an ordered.

OUR DEMANDS

In view of the refusal of the Mele Kolo Kyari-led management of the NNPCL to obey the order of the Court and obvious efforts to frustrate every process that could lead to unraveling the mystery behind the illegal sale of the 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light Crude in China in 2015, valued at $4.8billion dollars as leaked by whistle-blowers, we demand for immediate suspension of the NNPCL’s GCEO to pave way for unhindered investigations into the matter.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should, as a matter of urgent national importance, suspend Mele Kyari and carry out full forensic audit of old NNPC and new NNPCL under his watch.
Alternatively, we call on Engr. Mele Kyari to immediately resign from office for open investigation of allegations against him.

For President Tinubu to demonstrate to Nigerians and the international community that he has not endorsed the thieving cartel in the Nigeria’s oil sector, we call on him in his capacity as the head of the executive, to order the immediate suspension, arrest and prosecution of Mele Kyari, insofar as the 48 million barrels crude oil in question was “stolen”.

We have every reason to believe that Nigeria’s oil revenues will continue to dwindle if Kyari remains at the helm of affairs at the NNPCL. It is time to hold him accountable.

StreetReporters.ng