Stop stealing oil or resign now, host communities tell NNPC GMD, Kyari.

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

Melee Kyari, Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has been asked to either stop oil theft, identify and prosecute those responsible, or resign.

The communities lamented that rising oil theft had once again reduced the country to a pitiful state, reflecting a high corruption index.

According to a statement signed yesterday by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Community Development Communities of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, Joseph Ambakederimo, the exposure of the four-kilometer-long oil pipe theft was sufficient for Kyari to resign or be fired by the NNPC Board.

“We need more and compelling disclosures from these individuals who discovered this illegal pipeline overnight,” he said, “because mobilizing resources, equipment, and materials to execute this project does not happen in one day.” People in the surrounding area, as well as officials from IOCs and security services dispersed throughout the rivers and creeks, want to absolve themselves now.”

Ambakaderimo stated in the statement that Mele Kyari’s promise of producing three million barrels of crude oil per day had become a mirage, adding that Nigeria now produces less than one million barrels per day, which is far less than what it produced when Kyari took office.

“His Direct Sale-Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme has devolved into a cesspool of corruption.” We don’t know how many barrels of crude oil are shipped out for refining and how many refined products are brought back into the country, who monitors and checks if the country is getting a proportionate amount of products and how many refined products are shipped back, and what other by-products are derivable from the refining process of the crude being shipped out and at what cost to the NNPC,” he said.

“All of the above is shrouded in secrecy, and whenever questions for clarification on these matters are asked, we are always met with confrontations.” Production cost reductions promised under his (Kyari’s) watch have yet to have a significant impact, as the cost of producing one barrel of crude oil remains high, owing largely to numerous breaches in the tendering and procurement processes of international oil-gas companies as a result of interference from the leadership of regulatory agencies such as National Petroleum Investment Services (NAPIMS) to line their pockets rather than save the country from financial ruin.