Attempts To Blackmail Kyari Will Fail, Says Youth Alliance

The Integrity Youth Alliance has said that the attempt by some unscrupulous element under the umbrella of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) to tarnish the image of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, will fail as usual.

According to a press release on Friday, October 20, 2023, signed by the Board Chair, Integrity Youth Alliance, Comrade Adewole Kehinde, an ad hoc committee that was set up by the House of Representatives to investigate the alleged loss of over $2.4 billion in revenue from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in 2015, including crude oil exports from 2014 to date, has cleared the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. of any wrongdoing.

The statement read, “It is on record that in its recommendations, the House of Representatives Committee states that there is no evidence of wrongdoing against the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, with regards to these allegations.

“It is unfortunate that Prof. Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jr., who is a convener of the Countryfirst movement and a stunt supporter of one of the 2023 presidential candidates, is behind this recent blackmail.

“It was impossible to ship 48 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria to China without any record or trace of the same, especially because, as of 2015, the daily production of crude oil in Nigeria was below 1.6 million barrels.

“Therefore, 48 million barrels of crude oil would have been the total production capacity of the whole country for a month.

“It is simply impossible that one-month crude oil production would disappear without any record or trace, Adewole said.

The statement said further, “It should also be noted that the Department of Security Service has already concluded their investigation into the same subject matter and begun prosecution of these blackmailers while their accomplices are also undergoing investigation.

“It is on record that former President Muhammadu Buhari got the news of the alleged missing oil in 2016 and set up a committee to investigate the matter.

“The committee comprised former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; the Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari; a former Director General of State Security Services, Lawal Daura; and former Chief of Staff to Mr. Buhari, Abba Kyari.

“The panel could not get evidence to back up the “rumour” on the allegation, as the committee could not even link the purported oil to Nigeria.

“It is on record that the panel could not establish the substance of the allegation because detailed information to confirm the existence and origin of the shipment, such as a sample of the oil, the vessel involved in the loading point, etc., and the location of the crude in China, was not provided.

“From available records, it was able to established that Nigeria produces about 250,000 barrels of bonny light crude daily and is exported mainly from one terminal (Bonny), so it would take about 6 months and 12 days for up to 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light crude to be produced.

“It is not feasible to think that for over half a year, the entire quantity of this very sought-after type of crude oil grade produced by Nigeria and exported from this terminal was stolen out of the country without trace. 48 million barrels of crude oil translates to not less than 48 vessel cargoes of crude oil using the usual maximum loading quantity of, on average, around 950,000 barrels per vessel with adequate draft at the terminal.

“It is not feasible that up to 48 vessels that have identifiable IMO numbers would be utilized to steal Nigeria’s crude oil without a trace when a letter of credit (LC) is usually required to be issued for each crude oil export from Nigeria.

“It may interest Nigerians that the DSS was invited to probe the allegations, but they did not receive corroborating evidence or documents from SAMANO, who raised the allegations, and after very high-level correspondence and communication with the authorities in China, the DSS concluded in correspondence to the committee that the entire allegations by SAMANO were a scam intended for a pecuniary benefit, the statement concluded.