The Niger Delta Coalition, a conglomerate of 26 youth associations across the Niger Delta region, staged a protest in Warri, Delta State, on Wednesday, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately sack the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, over alleged misconduct, among others.
The statement was jointly signed by National Coordinator of Niger Delta Youth Alliance, Mr Oris Bakpa; National Chairwoman of Niger Delta Women for Change, Bridget Oghenekohwo; President of Niger Delta Youth Empowerment Network, Elvis Abebiyein, and the Regional Coordinator of South-South United Youth Association, Peter Okprgboro.
Members of the coalition in their hundreds, blocked the entrance of the popular NNPCL building, at about 12:00 noon, to register their grievances, carrying placards with inscriptions such as, ‘Protect our Nation, President Tinubu sack Mele Kyari now,” among others. The NNPCL building located on the Warri/Sapele Roads harbours the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Bakpa, on behalf of the group, called on Tinubu to take immediate action, stressing that the removal of the NNPCL boss was premised on the alleged financial impropriety, misuse of authority, lack of vision, poor performance and autocratic conduct, among others.
According to him, “The implication 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”.
“Nigeria is blessed with abundant oil resources. Nevertheless, a glaring deficiency within the NNPCL is the presence of dormant refineries scattered across the country.
“Regrettably, despite the staggering allocation of N100 billion for refinery rehabilitation in 2022, these facilities, with a combined production capacity of 445, 000 bpd have failed to produce any refined products for the past several years.
“Furthermore, the alleged irregularities in the awarding of oil production contracts have cast a shadow of opacity over remittance to the Federation Account giving rise to grave concerns about transparency and accountability in these financial transactions.
“As a collective of concerned and dedicated Niger Delta people, we vow to uphold the law and employ peaceful demonstrations as a means to research President Tinubu to remove Kyari from his position and launch an investigation into the leadership and management of the NNPCL with a view to addressing the urgent issues of the refinery rehabilitation”.
