NNPCL: Mele Kyari survives Tinubu’s hammer

Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has survived President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s hammer following his reappointment with eight other board members.

Accoriding to reports, Kyari, Chief Pius Akinyelure (Non-Executive Board Chairman), and others were appointed on Monday, according to a statement signed by presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale.

Kyari and Umar Ajiya, the Chief Financial Officer, are the only board members of the group retained from the ex-president Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment in June 2019.

Under Kyari, the Petroleum Industrial Act was signed into law by Buhari, consequently leading to the incorporation of NNPCL and reforms in the sector.

However, from 2019 to the first quarter 2023, the country spent N8.9 trillion on fuel subsidy regimes.

Accordingly, fuel subsidies grew from N350 billion in 2019 to N1.573 trillion in 2021.

In 2022 alone, fuel subsidies gulped N4 trillion; in the first half of 2023, the country spent N3.35 trillion on fuel subsidies as contained in the 2023-2035 medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper, MTEF & FSP.

Meanwhile, the removal of the fuel subsidy in June birthed a new era, which led to the increment of the product pump price from N189 per litre to over N617.

Reacting to the announcement of the new NNPCL board, an oil and gas industry expert, Zakka Bala, criticized President Tinubu for retaining the same people who have contributed to problems in the sector.

“This is what you get when a country has visionless leaders steering the affairs of a nation”, he told newsmen in a chat Monday.