Alleged Corruption: Protesters petition AGF, demand probe of Mele Kyari, ex-NNPCL GCEO

*The Concerned Citizens Against Corruption urges the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation ‘to immediately review all agreements’ entered by the leadership of Mele Kolo Kyari, a former Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Several protesters Tuesday, April 22, 2025, stormed the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice at the Federal Ministry of Justice Headquarters, in Abuja, FCT, to demand a probe of Malam Mele Kolo Kyari, immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for alleged infractions while in office.

ConsumerConnect gathered the protesters, under the aegis of the Concerned Citizens Against Corruption (CCAC), particularly urged an investigation into NNPCL’s financial transactions over the past five years.

Speaking on the protesters’ mission to the AGF’s office, Comrade Kabir Matazu, Convener of the group, said CCAC was disappointed that despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s removal of Malam Kyari and the entire NNPCL Board April 2 this year, “no step has been taken to investigate alleged corrupt practices under Kyari’s leadership.”

On rehabilitation and restreaming of government oil refineries

The group also alluded to what it described as controversy surrounding the rehabilitation and restreaming of government-owned refineries.

It also cited allegations of billions of US Dollars spent without transparency in the process.

The protesters equally raised the issue of the NNPCL’s purported $2 billion indebtedness to Matrix Energy, with the debt allegedly serviced through daily crude oil allocations.

Matazu further stated: “It is on record that this sack of the erstwhile corrupt leadership of the NNPCL drew applause from Nigerians, especially groups like ours, which had been at the forefront of demanding accountability and transparency in the running of institutions.

“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.”

The CCAC Convener said: “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.”

He noted: “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.”

Matazu argued: “This is even as the Federal Executive Council (FEC) 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.”

He also stated: “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?”

The group asked: “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.”

The group said: “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.”

The protesters, in their petition, stated: “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 group as well demanded the institution of a commission of inquiry to look into how contracts for the repairs of the government-owned oil refineries were handled by the NNPC Limited under Kyari and the dissolved Board.

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