The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, and a coalition of over 75 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, under the banner of the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations, CNCSOs, have issued a strong and uncompromising demand to President Bola Tinubu: “Go beyond sacking Mele Kyari. Arrest him and launch a public judicial probe into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.”
This demand was the central theme of a statement in Abuja, where Dr. Agaba Iduh, National Publicity Secretary of the CNCSOs, in a blistering statement on behalf of the coalition condemned unbridled corruption in NNPCL.
In the statement to journalists, development partners, members of the diplomatic corps, and Nigerians at home and abroad, Dr. Agaba Iduh described the current crisis in the oil sector as a “national emergency of historic proportions.”
He said that while President Tinubu’s decision to sack Mele Kyari and his management team was bold and commendable, it fell far short of what the Nigerian people deserved in the face of what he called “industrial-scale corruption, reckless mismanagement, and economic sabotage” under Kyari’s leadership at NNPCL.
The coalition reminded Nigerians that the CNPP and its civil society allies had for years raised alarm bells about the corrupt practices and financial abuses in the nation’s oil sector.
He pointed out that in 2021, the CNPP and several CSOs were the first to expose the fraudulent recruitment of hundreds of new staff into the non-operational Port Harcourt Refinery, a move that drained billions of naira from public coffers for a facility that had been shut down.
They recalled how NNPCL, under Kyari’s leadership, refused to comply with multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted between April and May 2025, asking for full contract details, names of contractors, and evidence of work on the over $4 billion allegedly spent on refinery rehabilitation projects. Instead of transparency, he said Nigerians were met with stonewalling, evasion, and official silence from both the Buhari administration and NNPCL management.
Expressing deep frustration, Dr. Agaba Iduh referenced the August 2024 scandal involving the importation of contaminated fuel and the subsidy frauds that left Nigerians struggling with high pump prices and vehicle damage.
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The coalition accused Kyari and his management team of deliberately sabotaging local refining capacity to enrich fuel importation cartels at the expense of national economic stability.
The latest revelation of N210 trillion in unreconciled transactions from NNPCL’s audited financial statements covering 2017 to 2023 formed the most damning part of the coalition’s indictment.
Dr. Agaba Iduh said Nigerians could no longer be deceived with weak explanations.
“This is not a minor discrepancy and it is not a mere accounting oversight as they want us to believe,” the coalition declared. “This is a financial calamity that must be accounted for by NNPCL.”
They condemned the refusal of NNPCL’s current management to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts to answer questions on the missing trillions.
The coalition described the decision of NNPCL’s leadership to prioritize a management retreat over a Senate invitation as an insult to the suffering Nigerian masses and a clear demonstration of arrogance and impunity.
In addition to the N210trillion scandal, they pointed to multiple other unresolved audit red flags. These included billions of dollars flagged by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, questionable crude oil swap deals, and discrepancies revealed by the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The coalition noted with dismay that even as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, began arresting former NNPCL executives linked to the $7.2 billion refinery rehabilitation scandal, Mele Kyari remained untouched by any law enforcement agency.
“We’re forced to ask: Is Mele Kyari above the law? Is he enjoying perpetual immunity from investigation and prosecution?” they asked.
The coalition also revisited the unresolved case of the alleged theft and illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Bonny Light crude oil in 2015, when Kyari served as Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC.
Dr. Agaba demanded to know who authorized the sale, where the proceeds went, and why there had been no prosecution or recovery till date.
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Turning directly to President Tinubu, the coalition commended his zeal to reform the oil sector and clean up corruption. Dr. Iduh said Tinubu’s decision to sack the NNPCL management team was a bold first step and sent a clear message that the days of impunity could be numbered.
“Mr. President, we stand by your zeal to clean up the oil sector, ensure enduring reforms in the sector, and institute a process of accountability in NNPCL,” Dr. Agaba Iduh said.
“We acknowledge the fundamental step of relieving Mele Kyari and his management team from office. It was a bold statement that your administration has made—that it is no longer business as usual in the oil and gas sectors.”
However, he stressed that mere removal from office was not the reform Nigerians needed.
“Mere sacking of the NNPCL team is not enough,” he insisted. “What Nigerians demand is a full forensic audit, an audacious public probe, and a complete purge of the corrupt oil sector cabal. That is the reform Nigeria needs immediately for true economic recovery and growth.”
The coalition made it clear that President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and his promise of achieving a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by 2030 would remain a pipe dream unless the government takes swift, bold, and uncompromising action against those who looted the oil sector.
They warned that the coalition was giving the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to act.
He said that failure to do so would trigger a nationwide mass mobilization, petitions to international anti-corruption agencies, lawsuits against the federal government and NNPCL, and a coordinated global media campaign to expose the full extent of the rot in Nigeria’s oil sector.
“At this juncture, we must state clearly that we are not fighting personalities. We are fighting a system that enables impunity,” Dr. Agaba Iduh said in closing.
“This is about the economic survival of Nigeria, the livelihood of millions of poor citizens, and the future of our children and generations yet unborn. Mr. President, the time to act is now. The world is watching. Nigerians are watching. And history will be the judge.”
