The NNPC remains the lifeblood of the Nigerian economy in terms of governmental revenue earnings as well as fuel for industrial and domestic productivity. The successes and failures resulting from the activities of this mega – corporation have far – reaching effects on the entire populace.
No wonder, everyone is keenly interested in every bit of whisper relating to this entity.
The bane of this expected money spinner income determinant and blood of the nearly mono-product economy is its notorious opacity, endemic corruption and legendary inefficiencies that are anathema to the private sector. The figures being bandied around are earth-quacking and heart-rending, for an economy plagued by ‘multidimensional poverty’.
Things have gone so bad that the natural reaction to any further news or rumours of corruption is the lynch-them attitude of the hardship-infested citizenry.
For close to an ‘eternity’ the hopes of citizens and in fact regional populace have been dashed, with Nigeria being unable to supply the energy needs of her citizens and neighbouring West African nations. Lack of refinery capacity, huge draw-down on foreign exchange, poor distribution Logistics, subsidy-induced smuggling, oil-theft, carnage from the mobile bombs called petrol tankers, environmental degradation from spillages, etc are the myriad of problems.
The quantum increases in price of PMS releases price shocks unto the entire economy, so much so that everyone from middle-class down are financially anaemic today. There is pervasive hardship across the land.
Every successive Nigerian Administration has been making feeble attempts to tackle or ameliorate the challenges, with little or no significant successes, until the present ‘Renewed Hope’ Administration boldly bit the bullet and yanked-off the major artery feeding the corruption behemoth – subsidy!
Today, the story is changing rapidly – Nigeria is transiting from being a major importer of refined petroleum products to a major exporter. Trust the private sector to respond to positive stimuli in such lucrative scenarios. The moribund Refinery Licences are springing to life, with additional new projects initiated to add more than 900,000 bpd to the basket. The Dangote Refinery, for instance, is now a noticeable disruptor of the energy value-chain in Africa and Europe!
However, the problems with the NNPC appears intractable! The so-called Refineries Turn-Around Maintenances, TAM continue to be a mirage and money guzzling Godzilla of sorts! Most recently, a monumental scam emerged, when the touted successful refurbishment of the Port-Harcourt refineries ended up as a monumental hoax that failed to produce any refined product! This resulted in the eventual unceremonious exit of the penultimate beloved GMD, Mele Kyari, the longest serving GMD, who successfully transited from the Corporation to the Limited Liability Company in July, 2022.
At the time of his removal in April 2025, he was just 3 months short of six years in the saddle and the longest tenure at the helms of affairs. Among his major achievements were his longevity in office, his monumentally corrupt tenure, his ability to deceive the entire nation on the success of an unsuccessful TAM and the recurrent inflated import figures that resulted in massive subsidy claims.
Along came the announcement of sweeping changes that saw the exit of the entire management team and Board of the NNPCL. The nation heaved a sigh of relief that at last, the government has become serious with the business of petroleum energy supply and free market that engenders growth and rapid investments by the Private Sector. The clean sweep came with the selection of what insiders in the sector saw as the Dream-Team, consisting of great technocrats of the oil sector.
Fast-forward to August 1, 2025, the hydrocarbon expert and GMD/CEO, Mr Ojulari was rumoured to have submitted his resignation letter written from an undisclosed location.
This is coming barely 120 days into office, during which he has established new footprints of accountability, transparency, efficiency, and profitability in the NNPCL. Ojulari has been unapologetically focused on delivering a company that can compete globally through innovations in cost optimization, digital transformation, new revenue streams and improved stakeholder engagement.
Ojulari is tightening most leakages by ramping up financial disclosures, project due diligence, and procurement transparency, closing the loopholes that have historically enabled billions in revenue losses. The workforce is being professionalized through merit-based appointments, performance audits, and executive accountability. The previous structure where loyalty and patronage superseded competence is being dismantled.
Mr Ojulari, a globally respected Petroleum Engineer and Strategist with more than three decades of experience in the Oil & Gas industry, has managed complex upstream and integrated energy projects. Before assuming office at the NNPCL, he had carved a legacy for himself at Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), where he led deep-water operations and championed local content development. He had put in decades of meritorious service chequered with great results within the Industry and in many organisations since his debut at Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer before joining Shell in 1991. His career path also spanned the Middle-East and Europe.
Sadly but expectedly, the cabals are now going for the jugular of Mr Bashir Ojulari. Within just four months in the saddle, the Night-in-shinning-Armour is being painted as a villain The cabals are making a masterpiece of the absurd and turning a treasure into graffiti! The long and short of it is that they want Ojulari to go! Their tactics is to turn him into an enemy of the powers that be!
Nigeria cannot afford to shatter the renewed hope for a sanitised, efficient and profitable National Oil Company comparable to Saudi’s ARAMCO and the Brazilian PETROBRAS. Nigeria needs to have a new day and truly Renewed Hope today.
Dan Aibangbe is a Media & Public Relations Consultant
This story is hanging on a balance. To me, it’s not professional enough. You should be able to tell us what the interloping cabals are doing to disrupt the good work or smear the integrity of our distinguished Ojulari!
Nigerian writers write and you cringe at their dishonesty.
Most of the changes listed by this writer happened during Kyari era, new refinery licences, increased supply, construction and launch of the largest refinery, modular licences, new drilling, etc.
The dishonesty in our narrative is staggering!
Do we need to tell such brazen lies just to sell a person?
Bayo Ojulari is new and there is not much he has publicly done yet. He needs to be given time to work. Why the need to spin lies to defend him.
Can he sustain a job that will always need falsehood to sustain?
God abeg. Wetin be this?