Oil & Gas
AN expert, Prof. Kailani Muhammad, has commended the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) for embarking on digital operations to mitigate graft, racketeering and financial leakages within NNPCL.
Muhammad, retired senior staff of the then Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said this on Tuesday at a news conference in Abuja.
He said that the digitisation of NNPCL’s operations under the leadership of Malam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL would enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency.
According to him, the impact of Kyari’s Transparency, Accountability, Participation and Equity (TAPE) initiative and operations on the overall Nigerian economy is unmatched by all the past Group Managing Directors (GMDs)
Muhammad said Kyari’s digitisation of NNPC’s operations reduced human-related operational risks, adding that graft, racketeering and financial leakages within NNPCL were mitigated through his automation of due process.
According to him, NNPCL GCEO
launched a software that enables marketers to view inventories across 22 depots in real-time. This has improved decision-making and efficiency.
“The records are there for all to see, as exemplified in his first ever Audited and Published Financial Accounts of the NNNPC since its inception about 45 years ago.
“Kyari has raised crude oil production to three million barrels per day, while also increasing reserves to 40 billion barrels by 2023.
“He successfully resolved the longstanding dispute in the Akuku Toru community of Rivers State, which restored 35,000 barrels of oil production per day.
“Kyari reached the Final Investment Decision (FID) on Train seven of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) in November 2019, a project expected to generate over 20 billion dollars in revenue and create over 50,000 jobs.
“Additionally, Kyari oversaw the commencement of the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project,with funding secured from a Chinese Bank.”
Muhammad said Kyari’s doggedness ensured the actualisation of the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA) in 2021.
“This legislative effort has turned NNPC from a loss-making entity, with a loss of N803 billion in 2018, to a profitable organisation, declaring a net profit of N674 billion in 2021.
“The company is now aiming for a profit increase of N2 trillion Audited Financial Statements in the years ahead.”
The don said the deadly conspiracy against Kyari’s performances by some organised group of individuals was a misplaced priority.
“The intrigues of politicking and blackmail, which should have been separated from the intrigues of economic values of the personality of the GCEO, were deliberately intertwined to achieve a vicious mission.
“When hired mercenaries are identified and commissioned to execute and sustain such a highly capital intensive campaign that is enveloped in a deadly conspiracy against an innocent victim of very high pedigree as Mele Kyari, then it becomes a mix of misplaced priority and vendetta unparalleled.”
It would be recalled that some groups had recently called on President Bola Tinubu to sack Kyari as NNPCL GCEO for allegedly sabotaging local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery.
These groups included Nigeria Ethnic Nationality Youth Leaders Worldwide (NENYLCW), led by Comrade Terry Obeih, Northern Youth Council, led by Alhaji Balarabe Rufai, President, Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide, Aare Oladotun Hassan Esq and others. (NAN)
A.I
July 03, 2024 @ 05:40 GMT|
Tags: Aare Oladotun Hassan Esq Alhaji Balarabe Rufai NNPCL Prof. Kailani Muhammad
