From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

A group, the Movement for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (MSDND) has again called on President Bola Tinubu to sack, arrest and investigate the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) Mr. Mele Kyari over alleged economic sabotage.

According to the MSDND, the recent series of conflicting claims and data released by Mr.

“The claims presented by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Monday are made up of manufactured data and are falsely meant to deceive the President and the nation. NUPRC stated that crude oil production increased from 1.4mb/d in May 2024 to 1.5mb/d in June 2024. Nigeria actually produced 1.27mb/d within these periods, and if condensate is removed, then the country only produced about 1m barrels per day.”

“According to the Monthly Oil Market Report for June by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), quoting direct sources, Nigeria’s oil production for June is 1.276 million barrels per day (bpd).”

“Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production fell to 1.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in May 2024, a 2.34% decrease from 1.28 million bpd recorded in April 2024.”

“Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) stated that crude oil export was at 1.32 million bpd in February 2024 and 1.23 million bpd in March 2024. Nigeria recorded a $3.2b loss in Q1 (January – March 2024).”

The group also claimed that senior officials of the NNPCL have hinted that the show of desperation and falsification of data is meant to lie and deceive the Presidency and President Bola Tinubu in order keep the crude oil sabotage ongoing, and to elongate their stay in office.

“The continued stay in office of the NNPCL Group Managing Director, Mr. Mele Kyari despite his years of failures will continue to jeopardise any and all directives of President Bola Tinubu for the security agencies to tackle oil theft in the region. There is an urgent need to investigate the likes of Mele Kyari and their cartel over their culpability in the alleged massive oil theft that is crippling the nation’s economy before it’s too late.”

The MSDND, through its Publicity Secretary, Kelvin Orughoe, in a statement via electronic mail, further argued that the recent claims of a new start off dates for the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries, the claims of rising cases of illegal pipeline connections and illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region and the lopsided explanation on the NNPCL position on Dangote Refineries seeking crude from other African countries rather than Nigeria are signs of desperation.

“Mr. Mele Kyari and his cohorts should be sacked and arrested to save Nigeria from economic sabotage and collapse. All of a sudden Mele Kyari and company suddenly remembered that they needed to ensure that the expected TAM at the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries works.”

“The false wake-up call by Mele Kyari was after we publicly faulted the outburst of the NNPCL that their manufactured data are not consistent with what is on ground in the Niger Delta region and is a false-battle-cry meant to deceive and distract President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian public”.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and the Group Managing Director, Mr. Mele Kyari had also in a press statement claimed to have uncovered 38 illegal pipeline connections and 108 illegal refineries between June 22 and June 28.