CEO, Nigerians Petroleum Company LTD. Mele Kyari.
A Civil Society Organisation, Association of Media Practitioners in Oil and Gas Producing Areas (AMEPROGAS), has stated that there is no fraud detected in the gratuity arrangements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.
The group which is duly registered with CAC number 83168, has explained that whatsoever action taken by the management of the NNPC was within the ambit of the Petroleum Industry Act which is the new regulatory law of the petroleum sector in Nigeria.
Mr Iteveh Nur’ Ekpokpobe, the Investigations Team Lead of AMEPROGAS, said the NNPC as a government parastatal employed the Group Managing Director, Mr Mele Kyari and the Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya as civil servants with entitlements of pension and gratuity.
According to him, the clarification is following a report of “Fresh Crisis In Nigeria’s Petroleum Company, NNPC As CEO Mele Kyari, Chief Financial Officer, Ajiya Secretly Pay Themselves Billions Of Naira As Gratuities”
It was also alleged that some other top officials of the NNPC were also said to have been paid.
Kyari was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the new Group Managing Director (GMD), now known as the Group CEO of NNPC in 2019. He replaced Maikanti Baru.
According to AMEPROGAS, “As at the time of conversion from a government parastatal to a Limited Liability Company, both Mele Kyari and Umar Ajiya were civil servants. Following the conversion, the NNPC ceased to be a government agency and transformed into a private company with shareholders as stipulated in the Petroleum Industry Act.
“As a private company, it would no longer be lawful or proper that the NNPC be managed by civil servants. The payments received by the duo of Mele Kyari and Umar Ajiya, were payments for over 30 years of dutiful services to the government.
“On completion of service, President Muhammadu Buhari reinstated Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the newly floated Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited which makes them no more public servants and no more due for gratuities and pensions after serving out this new term.” The statement concluded.
