NNPC’s Absurdities: Where is Mele Kyari deriving this audacity?

By Ifeanyi Izeze

For God’s sake, the fact that these people are in government or charge of our public institutions does not mean they love the country more than all of us. And the idea of thinking they always know what they are doing more than the rest of us is almost running this country aground with the current mess.

How can you run the most critical agency that carries the nation’s entire economy in such an arrogant, reckless, and opaque manner?

The vexing arrogance and impunity we are seeing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, display in running the affairs of the nation’s apex oil concern was birthed “small, small.” He experimented with this callousness with Buhari, and nothing was done to either call him to order or outrightly ease him off. And now he is encouraged to do more heinous things as if Nigeria belongs to him and the evil spirits are beating the drum he is dancing to.

The President could not have said this nation is not paying a subsidy. Then, one entity under this federation that does not have powers to run but has been running as if it’s a government would come and tell us that we have been buying the fuel and augmenting shortfalls in cost even though they don’t want to use the word ‘subsidy.’ So, who is in charge of our government—the President or Mele Kyari, the NNPCL Chief Executive Officer?

Also read: Confusion as NNPCL increases petrol pump price without Presidential directive

During Kyari’s tenure in the NNPC during the immediate past administration, we first heard that Nigeria did not make a dime selling over 1.5 million barrels per day of its crude oil, condensate, etc.  This was not once; it was not one or three months, and nothing happened. The whole nation moved on as if that was the normal thing to do. How do you explain that? He usually dared to tell the sitting president and the Council of State that there was no single Kobo to pay into the Federation Account for the states to share, and dumpishly, all of them accepted such explanations as if they were under a spell.

Now, under Tinubu’s government, he has even been more emboldened because he must have been part of the President’s election campaign funding using whose money—NNPC’s money, our money!

This is the same person who has been going to raise billions of dollars from foreign credit agencies in exchange for produced and yet-to-be-produced nation’s share of the joint venture crude oil, as he said, “to defend or rather stabilize the Naira.” Is it the business of the NNPC to go abroad and borrow money for Nigeria to stabilize the Naira/economy or that of the CBN? Absurdities are everywhere, and those who know and should ask questions have all gone deaf. The judgment/punishment of Almighty God is accurate, and ‘God case, no appeal’!

Also read: NNPCL turning a new leaf

Whether anybody wants to hear this or not, as said in one of my analyses in 2023, this same Mele Kyari engineered the current ‘onigiri dance in prices of food items and almost every other commodity in the market, particularly our domestic fuel pricing template following Tinubu’s reckless pronouncement at the Eagle Square during his inauguration. Immediately, the President made his kai kai pronouncement that “subsidy is gone and gone forever.” the NNPC man came out to contend that the new President had no right to stop subsidy payment without consulting him to know what was on the ground.

As if that was not enough, NNPC also jacked up the price of petrol overnight from N195 to N557 per liter without consulting the President, starting this journey of ever-increasing prices. Now, we are at N897 per liter only at NNPC/OVH retail outlets. Elsewhere, a liter sells between N 950 and N1 300 in and around Abuja.

During Buhari’s two tenures (2015-2023), the petrol price increased from N87 to N195 per liter (124%).

Tinubu’s slightly over one year in office has already seen the NNPC move petrol price from N195(2023) through N557(2023) to N617(2023) and now N897(2024).

“Subsidy is Gone” snowballed into ‘no dime’ to pay into the Federation Account for the states to share in addition to an outstanding debt/bill of over $6.8 billion. Haba!

The question is: Whose interest(s) is Kyari protecting?

Saudi Aramco is the NNPC of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Now close your eyes and imagine that Saudi Aramco lied to the people of Saudi Arabia—not once, but four times. “Lie to Nigerians” was what the NNPCL did.

The NNPCL told Nigerians that they raked in N3 trillion in profits. Guess what? International oil traders refuse to discharge PMS until they are paid the $6.8 billion owed by the same national oil company.

The NNPC’s initial debt denial clearly indicates an attempt to cover up and deceive the Nigerian people. It is unacceptable for a state-owned corporation to engage in such blatant deception, and Mele Kyari must be held accountable for this betrayal of public trust.

This man has to tell us where he derived the power appropriately for our money. On his own, he goes ahead and spends money without appropriation and comes back to tell us he used the money to make up for the cost of ‘under-recovery.’ Haba, bros! Who authorized you to do that, and what money are you spending? Was it appropriated because it’s our collective national wealth? Even if you claim to be a private liability company, you are sitting down there on behalf of the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people.

How can a limited liability company (NNPCL) run our nation at its whims and caprices as if no government existed? The leading resource of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings is oil. How do you explain that this resource is being managed anyhow by this so-called private company without the control of state agencies?

Is NNPC, whether privatized or not, running our national assets- crude oil, natural gas, LNG, etc.- on its whims and caprices? And is it spending the money it makes from our resources on its whims and caprices? Where do they derive the authority to do so?

How come they told us there was no subsidy and are now coming out to say that not only had there been a subsidy, but that they owe over $6 billion, and the only solution they have is to jack up the fuel price to almost N897 per liter? Is this not an outright provocation of the Nigerian masses?

The Presidency says they know nothing about this and that Nigerians should ask NNPC. Can you imagine what the President, Nigeria’s minister of Petroleum, is saying about the daylight callousness and fraud in a ministry he superintends? It’s inexplicable that the President dares to tell us that NNPC has been spending that much money. The question is: on whose authority and by whose approval? The President himself has explained to us some of the recklessness of this NNPC chief executive officer.

It’s miserable that the NNPC has been allowed to grow into this monster that believes it can do whatever it likes. At the same time, the country and its economy continue to suffer unnecessarily.

Shouldn’t any reasonable National Assembly representing the voices of the people be calling Mele Kyari and everybody involved in this heist with impunity to question them and answer to Nigerians on these issues of impunity and sleaze in our oil business? A solemn National Assembly should call the President, who doubles as Minister of Petroleum, to come and answer charges. Appropriation is a severe issue; everyone has the right/power to spend humongous amounts of money that were not duly appropriated.

The NNPC guys, who speak from all angles of their mouths, came out of the meeting last week with Vice President Shetima to say that Dangote’s fuel price will depend on the Naira exchange rate. “Foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity has been a significant factor influencing the fluctuation in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which are governed by unrestricted free market forces, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.”

As the company/corporation says, “The market has been deregulated, meaning that petrol prices are now determined by market forces rather than by the government or NNPC Ltd. Additionally, the exchange rate plays a significant role in influencing these prices.”

And these free-market forces are solely determined by NNPCL? Why did they wake up in the middle of the night to adjust the price of PMS from N617 per liter to N897 per liter?

So as ‘Naira no get standing, sitting, or squatting rate- N1500 today, N1650 tomorrow, petrol price will now join it in this acrobatic two- two -two -new dance, abi?’ What they are saying, in other words, is that, on some days, it could be N900. On others, it could be N1500 or more. Is that how they run a productive economy?

In all these back and forth, what is the President’s position? Unknown exactly! The silence of the President, who is also the substantive Minister of Petroleum, is not only too golden, but it also smells more of complicity in the rubbish by the NNPCL since the inception of this administration. God, judge all of us one by one without exception!

• Izeze, a National Daily Newspaper, writes from Abuja and can be reached at [email protected]; 234-8033043009