CNPP and CNCSOs Commend Current NNPCL GCEO for Exposing the Rot in Port Harcourt Refinery, Demand Full Probe.

CNPP and CNCSOs Commend Current NNPCL GCEO for Exposing the Rot in Port Harcourt Refinery, Demand Full Probe.

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) have commended the courage of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Bayo Ojulari, for his recent bold revelations about the monumental rot, neglect, and financial bleeding of Nigeria’s refineries, particularly the Port Harcourt Refinery.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, August 29, 2025, while receiving the leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr. Ojulari disclosed that the NNPCL was losing between ₦300 million to ₦500 million monthly on the overall refineries, with the Port Harcourt refinery alone consuming resources without commensurate output. He further revealed that despite pumping about 950,000 barrels into the facility, less than 40 percent of inputs were being processed, leaving Nigeria with mid-grade, substandard products because only half of the refinery was functional.

According to Ojulari, the refinery’s design had long been misunderstood and deliberately misrepresented, stressing that the so-called "old and new" refineries were actually interconnected systems meant to work together. Years of willful neglect and deceit, he said, had made rehabilitation extremely challenging.

The CNPP and CNCSOs consider these disclosures to be a courageous confirmation of what we have consistently warned Nigerians about under the former NNPCL leadership led by Engr. Mele Kyari. For years, we sounded the alarm about the deliberate sabotage of the refineries to sustain fraudulent petroleum importation rackets, the manipulation of figures, and the economic sabotage being perpetuated under Kyari’s watch. Rather than address these issues, our coalition was bullied, blackmailed, and suppressed in the media by the then NNPCL management, while Nigerians continued to suffer under fuel scarcity, rising subsidy bills, and worsening economic hardship.

We recall that the CNPP had openly described as absurd and unacceptable the so-called profits declared by the Mele Kyari-led NNPCL, which stood in stark contradiction to the staggering subsidy claims submitted to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). These were not mere accounting inconsistencies—they were deliberate deceit, now being vindicated by the honest disclosures of the current GCEO.

To those who wonder why we have remained relentless on the NNPCL, our answer is simple: Nigeria’s economic suffocation is rooted in years of corruption at NNPCL—until the rot is cleaned out, citizens will never breathe. The suffering of Nigerians today is not accidental; it is the bitter fruit of entrenched corruption in the NNPCL and unless this rot is dismantled, Nigerians will remain trapped in hardship and denied true economic relief unless Nigeria reasonably diversifies our national revenue sources. 

It is now beyond doubt that the corruption entrenched in the NNPCL under Kyari’s leadership is far bigger than what conventional anti-graft agencies like the EFCC can unravel on their own. This is why we once again call for a forensic investigation and an independent judicial inquiry into the operations of the NNPCL between 2017 and 2023. The probe must be public, transparent, and aimed at recovering every kobo of the stolen commonwealth of Nigerians.

We therefore urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save the economy and the suffering masses by immediately ordering a judicial probe of the NNPCL from 2017–2023. This probe must expose the manipulation, deceit, and economic sabotage that have crippled Nigeria’s oil sector and held our country hostage to the greed of a few.

Furthermore, given the scale of losses, contradictions, and unresolved allegations—including fraudulent subsidy claims, questionable crude oil swap deals, unaccounted proceeds from crude sales, and the deliberate incapacitation of Nigeria’s refineries—we insist that Engr. Mele Kyari must be arrested and compelled to give a full account of his stewardship. Anything short of this would be an endorsement of impunity and a betrayal of the Nigerian people.

In conclusion, we commend Mr. Bayo Ojulari for daring to confront the truth, for lifting the veil of deceit that shielded past corruption, and for rekindling the hope that accountability is still possible in Nigeria. His courage must be matched by decisive government action. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must act now to ensure that the NNPCL ceases to be a den of corruption and instead becomes a true national asset for all Nigerians.

Signed:

Comrade James Ezema

Deputy National Publicity Secretary, CNPP

Alhaji Ali Abacha

National Secretary, CNCSOs