Apex Igbo socio-cultual organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has dissociated itself from a call for the resignation of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Ltd., Mr Mele Kyari.
A group, which called itself ‘Coalition of GMD NNPC Mele Kyari Must Go’, had in a letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanded Kyari’s immediate removal from office.
It claimed that some ethnic youths groups and coalitions were part of the movement.
However, in a statement made available to journalists on Saturday, the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike said the group was self-serving.
Okwu, who distanced Igbo youths from the movement, noted that contrary to claims, the NNPC under Kyari had indeed fared well.
Ohanaeze urged President Tinubu to ignore people who were masquerading to be protecting the interest of Nigerians, but had their mission buried in the selfish desires of a few cabal in the oil and gas industry.
He said from the 2019 till date, myriads of achievements had been made under Kyari.
He identified some of them to include: “Exploration in the inland basins – drilling of the Kolmani River II Well culminating in oil found in commercial quantity in the Upper Benue Trough.
“Resolution of the dispute involving Shell and Belema Oil that shut in over 30,000barrels per day production in OML 25.
“Execution of the Abo OML 125 Heads of Terms leading to the resolution of the issues around most of the deep offshore Production Sharing Contracts. This paved the way for the renewal of OML 125 and further investment.
“Resolution of dispute agreements with SNEPCo and other PSC partners to resolve the disputes around another deep offshore block, OML 118, leading to the renewal of that acreage with the prospect of a new $10billion investment in the development of the Bonga South-East Field.
“Successful resolution of 1993 PSC dispute which holds over 90% of our Deepwater production has pave way for unlocking over 7 Billion barrels of oil, 20Tcf of gas reserves, potential investment of up to US$40Bn over the next five (5) years, and at the same time relieves NNPC of almost US$10Bn in contingent liabilities.”
On gas development, the Igbo youth group said Kyari leadership had among other things seen to the “final Investment Decision on the NLNG Train 7 Project in December 2019. The project is expected to generate over $20billion of revenue to the Government over the project’s lifecycle, 10,000 direct and 40,000 indirect jobs.
“Signing of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract of the NLNG Train-7 project with the SCD JV Consortium comprising affiliates of Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo.
“Flag off of the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project on 30th June, 2020. The project which has been described by the President as a game-changer is an integral part of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with a capacity to transport about 2.2billion cubic feet of gas per day.
“Commissioning of the Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) and the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Storage and Dispensing Unit.
“Execution of a JV agreement with NIPCO to market and distribute CNG as part of the Auto gas project which is targeted as substituting gas as the transport fuel.
“Final Investment Decision (FID) on Brass Gas Hub with the Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company for the $3.6bn Brass Methanol Plant in Odioma, Bayelsa State.
“Signing of a $260m financing agreement for the Assa-North Ohaji South (ANOH) Gas Project with Seplat. The project will deliver 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 1,200 megawatts of electricity to the domestic market.
“On 22 April, 2021, NNPC executed a Gas Development Agreement (GDA) for the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 143 with its partner, Sterling Oil Exploration and Production Company (SEEPCO). The project will boost the nation’s gas production by 1.2trillion cubic feet (tcf).
“The Corporation also secured the United State Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Grant and commenced the upgrade of 1350MW Abuja IPP project development to World Bank Standard for bankability,” as well as Maiduguri Emergency Power Project and Gwagwalada IPP Project.
He added that as the sole importer of petroleum products in the country, “NNPC had succeeded in keeping the nation wet.
“NNPC has emplaced a stable fuel supply system to guarantee zero fuel queues throughout the country.”
He also stated that, “On 6th April, 2021, NNPC signed the $1.5bn Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) Contract Agreement with Tecnimont SpA, for the complete rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery. 60kbpd capacity to come back on stream in April 2023.
“Introduction of a new operational model for the refineries post-rehabilitation with the call for bids for the Operations & Maintenance. The O & M model would ensure that the refineries are managed by contractors with requisite experience who would ensure that they are regularly maintained as and when due.
“WRPC and KRPC Quick Fix contract awarded to Daewoo for the restreaming of both plants by 2024.
“NNPC’s equity holding in Dangote Refinery, Azikel Refinery and three units of 10kbpd condensate refineries.”