By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
Scores of protesters stormed the office of the Attorney General of the Federation at the Federal Ministry of Justice Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, demanding a probe of the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari.
The protesters, who were under the aegis of Concerned Citizens Against Corruption (CCAC), specifically called for an investigation into the company’s transactions over the past five years.
Led by its Convener, Comrade Kabir Matazu, the group said it was disappointed that despite President Bola Tinubu’s removal of Kyari and the entire NNPCL board on April 2, 2025, “no step has been taken to investigate alleged corrupt practices under Kyari’s leadership.”
The group highlighted what it termed as controversy surrounding the rehabilitation and restreaming of government-owned refineries, citing allegations of billions of dollars spent without transparency.
It further raised the issue of the NNPCL’s alleged $2 billion indebtedness to Matrix Energy, with the debt allegedly serviced through daily crude oil allocations.
“It is on record that this sack of the erstwhile corrupt leadership of the NNPCL drew applause from Nigerians, especially groups like our, which had been at the forefront of demanding accountability and transparency in the running of institutions,” Matazu said.
“It is also of note that in Mele Kyari, the leadership of the NNPCL was plagued with countless and endless allegations of corruption due to what was described as a lack of transparency.
“Nigerians are disenchanted that the President has only stopped at removing the former leadership without taking steps to investigate how Kyari and his team ran the organisation.
“In this regard, a sore point is the alleged fraud surrounding the rehabilitation and the restreaming of the government-owned refineries. The figures and the facts simply do not add up.
“In addition to the billions of dollars that the Kyari-led administration claimed to have spent on fixing the refineries, it also claimed that an oil company, Matrix Energy Limited, invested $400 million in the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery. This is even as the Federal Executive Council had approved $1.5 billion for the repairs of the same facility.
“But there are even more perplexing issues emerging. The NNPCL is now reportedly owing Matrix Energy more than $2 billion. This debt is being serviced through daily crude oil allocations to Matrix Energy that are not being paid for.
“There are consequently posers that require urgent clarifications. Why and how is the Federal Government, through the NNPCL, owing Matrix Oil $2 billion? Why is the debt being paid with a daily supply of crude oil? Who were the parties to the negotiations of this deal? Why are Nigerians being kept in the dark?
“The Concerned Citizens Against Corruption strongly believes that getting to the root of this matter will help the Federal Government to account for how public resources were spent on the controversial refineries’ repairs undertaken under the Kyari leadership.
“An investigation into the questionable transactions would also point the government in the direction of what funds to recover and from whom, which is sorely needed now considering Nigeria’s economic condition.
“Furthermore, investigating all that transpired will set the stage for holding even the current leadership accountable while equally identifying potential pitfalls for those who are now in charge so that Nigeria is not caught in a loop of repeating the same mistakes.
“In view of the foregoing, the Concerned Citizens Against Corruption calls on the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation to immediately review all agreements entered by the NNPCL under the Mele Kyari administration.
“This investigation should find out how much the Federal Government has lost to such agreements and recommendations on to recover identified funds. We demand for an immediate judicial review,” the protesters added in a petition they submitted to the office of the AGF.
More so, the group called for the institution of a commission of inquiry to look into how contracts for the repair of refineries were handled by the NNPCL under Kyari and the sacked board.
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