Pressure mounts for sack of NNPCL, NMDPRA managements as foreign investments in oil, gas sector drops

Energy Reform Group, ERG has flayed the drastic drop in foreign investment in oil sector, return of PMS scarcity, importation of adulterated Petroleum products, non availability of domestic crude supply, fraudulent sale of our energy to NNPCLA retail, oil racketeering etc, saying that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Management have outlived their usefulness.

The group in a statement by its Head of Investigation, Emmanuel Segun
urged President Bola Tinubu to sack the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, his counterpart in NMDPRA and their entire managements, accusing them of sabotaging efforts to create a stable energy sector that makes life easier for the people.

The group further accused Mele Kyari of sabotaging President Tinubu’s increased crude oil drive revenue, by engaging in racketeering of oil and other petroleum products, padded cost for production of crude oil, mismanagement of proceeds from forward sale of crude, substandard repair works at indigenous refineries and obstruction of start of domestic refineries.

They lamented the drop in foreign investment and return of PMS scarcity, saying that they thwarted expectations of Nigerians that by now our local refineries would have been working.

With the current bad economic situation in the country, ERG concluded that the NNPCL and NMDPRA are sabotaging government efforts to make fuel affordable, urging the President to immediately dismiss the top shots in the regulatory bodies.

ERG statement reads,”Despite efforts by the government to attract more foreign investors into the oil and gas sector, according to reports the nation’s foreign capital investments in the industry nosedived from $720m in 2016 to $3.64m in the entire 2023. According to verified report by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country also recorded no foreign capital investment in the first quarter of 2024.

“Also many depots for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are currently dry, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country. We urge Mr President to appoint new management for NNPCL and NMDPRA, as both heads of these agencies hard outlived their usefulness.”