Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has raised alarm over a series of death threats he has been getting.
According to Punch, Kyari disclosed this while speaking at the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption-organised Legislative Transparency and Accountability Summit in Abuja.
The NNPCL chief said the threats have come about as a result of the series of reforms that have been implemented in the oil and gas sector, but he remains undeterred by them.
He said:
Without mincing words, I want to say that this industry is at a threshold of change. There is massive change going on and it is very expensive and of a personal cost to many people, including myself. There is a threat to life; I can say this. I have several death threats but we are not bothered about this. We believe that no one dies unless it is his time.
He however added that accepting the threats is part of the cost of change that must be implemented for the sector to experience the much-needed progress and flourish.
The NNPCL changed its status from the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at an event attended by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The new status gives transformed the former state-owned oil company into a fully Limited Liability Company as its operations are now fully compliant with the terms of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) of 20.
Kyari had stated that with the new status of the company, the public should be able to buy shares as it considers issuing its Initial Public Offer (IPO) by 2024.
In recent years, Nigeria has been confronted with the challenge of identifying the perpetrators of crude oil theft and curbing the criminal act.
Crude oil theft is said to have cost Nigeria a staggering $1 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2022.
Oil theft, illegal bunkering, and pipeline vandalism have resulted in huge revenue losses to Nigeria. It prevents the country from benefitting from the current global oil boom.
However, with recent efforts and collaborations with the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and Tantita Security Services, a firm operated by Ex-Niger Delta militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo), the NNPCL seems to be making headway with recent discoveries of illegal pipelines and huge dump site used in storing stolen crude oil and illegally refined petroleum products.
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