The Energy Reform Group (ERG) has flayed the current crisis in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria which has a plethora of economic and social dislocations within the sector.
The group in a statement on Tuesday listed some of the notable outcomes of the crisis in the sector to include a drastic drop in foreign investment in the sector, return of PMS scarcity, importation of adulterated Petroleum products, non-availability of domestic crude supply, fraudulent sale of OVH energy to NNPCL retail, PFI racketeering etc.
The ERG posited that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Management have outlived their usefulness as they have shown in clear terms that they are unable to manage the nation’s oil and gas resources to benefit Nigeria and Nigerians.
According to the ERG statement signed by its Head of Investigation, Emmanuel Segun, the time has come for President Bola Tinubu to wield the big stick and save the Nigerian economy.
The ERG therefore urged President Bola Tinubu to sack the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari and his counterpart in NMDPRA including Lawal Sade NNPCL Trading Hub stockman NNPCL retail, Bala Wunti NNPCL Nuims, Ajia, Chief Financial Officer and Dapo Segun, EVP Downstream.”
The group accused the listed top management staff of the NNPCL conglomerate of sabotaging efforts to create a stable energy sector that makes life easier for the people, as well as sabotaging President Tinubu’s increased crude oil drive revenue, racketeering of PFI and other petroleum products, padded cost for production of crude oil, mismanagement of proceeds from forward sale of crude, substandard repair works at indigenous refineries and obstruction of start of domestic refineries.”
Part of the ERG statement reads:
“Despite efforts by the government to attract more foreign investors into the oil and gas sector, according to reports the nation’s foreign capital investments in the industry nosedived from $720m in 2016 to $3.64m in the entire 2023. According to verified report by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country also recorded no foreign capital investment in the first quarter of 2024.
“Also many depots for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are currently dry, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country. We urge Mr President to appoint new management for NNPCL and NMDPRA, as both heads of these agencies hard outlived their usefulness.”