Oil & Gas
By Anayo Ezugwu
MELE Kyari, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has said that his leadership has opened up the corporation to the public. He says that all the information people are asking about the corporation are on its website.
In an exclusive interview with Realnews, Kyari said people should stop looking at the corporation based on a carry-over attitude from the past impression. “There is virtually no information you need about NNPC today that you cannot get from our website or that is not already in the public space,” he said.
Kyari denied the allegations of the inflation of the insurance contract and sale of forgotten crude oil in China. “You mentioned inflation of insurance contract and sale of forgotten crude oil in China. If you have been following the reports on these issues, you will know that they are not factual.
“Investigations into the allegation of inflated insurance contract have shown that there was nothing like that and that the Corporation’s insurance policy has been doing very well. On the alleged forgotten crude oil in China, we have explained now and again that it was a plot to defraud the country and that there was nothing like that. Since we exposed the fraudsters, have you heard them come out again with counter explanation? In any case, we are seeking legal redress on the matter.”
On the Ajaokuta – Kaduna – Kano, AKK, gas pipeline project, Kyari said the project will help in boosting Nigeria economy. “The AKK is designed to take gas to the northern corridor of the country. Kaduna and Kano used to be the hub of the textile industry in Nigeria. There are over 40 textile companies in Kano and Kaduna that are in coma due to power issues essentially.
“What the AKK pipeline will do is to supply them gas as fuel in place of electricity. With the availability of gas, these factories and even new ones will spring back to life. You can imagine the multiplier effect of that in terms of employment generation and impact on the national economy,” he said.
The GMD of NNPC also thanked various unions in the oil and gas sector for believing in him. “We enjoy very cordial relationship with the two unions in the industry, NUPENG and PENGASSAN. We have not sacked any staff in the refineries. There have been reports that we have sacked some staff, but that is not true.
“The true position is that when the refineries were in full operation, we got some companies to supply us labour to support our staff. These people were essentially staff of those companies we engaged, they were paid by those companies. Now that the refineries have been shut down for rehabilitation, it does not make any economic sense to keep them since there is virtually no work going on there. That is the true situation.”
– Oct. 2, 2020 @ 13:59 GMT |
Tags: Kyari explains how he opened up NNPC to the public
