Challenged, NNPC’s Kyari Maintains Course
Clearly invigorated from the deserved plaudits trailing his first anniversary in the saddle as NNPC’s boss, Mallam Mele Kyari, brushes aside allegations from shadowy oil syndicates – holding his focus on consolidating and further deepening good governance, writes Louis Achi
The NNPC though reacting late, has however dismissed the publications’ allegations, stating unequivocally that they are “falsehoods, offensive, gold-digging and a calculated attempt by the said SAMANO SA DE CV working in concert with its local and international agents to intimidate, blackmail and extort money from the Federal Government of Nigeria and NNPC.”
If they succeeded in the past, Kyari has just shown them he is not about to fall for their tricks. NNPC clearly did a detailed investigation of this particular company and exposed its fraudulent claims and criminal history. From investigations and checks with top experts, based on the operations and state of the international crude oil market, it seems impossible to ship 48 million barrels of crude oil to just go missing from Nigeria to China without any record or trace.
According to NNPC, the daily production of crude oil in Nigeria, as of 2015, was below 1.6 million barrels. Forty-eight million barrels of crude oil would have been the total production capacity of the country for a whole month. It was simply impossible for one-month crude oil production for the entire country to disappear.
It is noteworthy that the Chinese government had, through its officials, stated emphatically in response to this allegation at different fora, including the United Nations General Assembly that there was no stolen Nigerian crude oil stored in any port or terminal or storage facility in China. Despite the failure of SAMANO to produce verifiable evidence in support of its allegations, relevant officials were mandated to pay an in-person visit to China and further investigate SAMANO’s claim.
“SAMANO boldly made several demands including the payment of $125 million by the government officials to prevent it from disclosing this information to the public.
“The police became aware that Mr. Ramirez fled the US and settled in Nigeria where he continued his criminal activities in conjunction with SAMANO and its managing director. There is a subsisting warrant issued by the United States government for the arrest of Mr. Ramirez. His wife has been convicted in the United States for her role in a visa lottery scam he masterminded.”
Having seen that its ploy was unravelling and in what appears a desperate last-ditch effort, according to NNPC’s reaction, SAMANO claimed it was entitled to compensation for supplying information on the missing crude oil pursuant to the Federal Government’s Whistle Blower Policy. Besides its role as the bedrock of the Nigerian economy, the petroleum industry has been one of the key defining phenomena of the country’s post-independence history. This fact centralises NNPC in the nation’s political economy, given the corporation’s assigned role in the industry. Not surprisingly, the corporation’s experience has been marked by struggles over what the corporation controls and over who controls it.
This initiative effectively ended the era of poor transparency in the corporation’s governance style.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NNPC to make N194b from new gas pact resolutionNNPC, is currently aiming at making about N194 billion after reaching a resolution with its partners SAPETRO and CNOOC over OML 130.
Read more »
Replacing Service Chiefs Won’t Solve Nigeria’s Security Challenges, Says Ex-DSS DirectorReplacing Service Chiefs Won’t Solve Nigeria’s Security Challenges, Says Ex-DSS Director
Read more »
Mobile Court Fines Naira Marley N200,000 for Violating Covid-19 Protocol - THISDAYLIVEBy Alex Enumah A Mobile Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting at the Eagle Square, Central Business District, on Friday slammed a fine of N200,000 on controversial Nigerian music star, Mr Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley. Magistrate Idayat Akanni handed down the fine after he was found guilty of all the …
Read more »
You Know Those Behind Electoral Violence in Edo, PDP Tells INEC - THISDAYLIVEBy Chuks Okocha The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Friday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of playing to the gallery, claiming the commission knows the political party behind violence and thuggery in Edo state. The PDP also said that it had uncovered plots by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in connivance with INEC to …
Read more »
World Bank Approves $114.28m for Nigeria to Boost States' COVID-19 Response - THISDAYLIVEBy James Emejo The World Bank Board of Directors Friday approved a $114.28 million financing to help the country prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic with a specific focus on state level responses. The intervention includes $100 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and $14.28 million grant …
Read more »
PDP and Rumour Mongering - THISDAYLIVEBY OKEY IKECHUKWU There is a strong rumour in town, as I write. And it has been around for about five years now. Propagators of this rumour believe themselves to be stating a fact of our general experience, when they make certain statements about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The statements in question revolve around …
Read more »