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APC support group commends Tinubu over reappointment of NNPCL boss

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1 year ago

The Director General, Confederation of All Progressives Congress Support Groups (CASG), Engineer Dr. Kailani Muhammad, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the reappointment of Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

At a world press conference on the tenure renewal of Mallam Mele Kyari, Engineer Mohammad said that it was very good of the President to have reward excellence, saying that, “We are celebrating this feat, not just because Mele Kyari remains in the saddle, we are celebrating because, Mele Kyari has become a composite factor in the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria”.

According to him, “We are here today to celebrate one of our own. We appreciate positive developments that are unfolding in the Oil and Gas sector, where synergy templates have made the difference and ensured for a significant paradigm shift for a generational sign post that have acquired the topmost in line with global energy practice”.

Speaking further, Engineer Mohammad maintained that, “Today marks a new dawn in the Nigeria’s petroleum industry as the baton of leadership mantle continues uninterrupted in the hands of Mallam Kolo Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

“His commitment to the development of the sector will ever remain a footprint for generations to come as he remains at the helm of affairs at NNPCL.

“This extension of Mele Kyari’s tenure as the Group Chief Executive Officer, shows clearly that, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is dedicated to his RENEWED HOPE AGENDA, where round pegs are kept in round holes and square pegs vice- visa for optimal results. We applaud Mr President for not being distracted by dissident voices to replicate the dogma of inept ideas orchestrated by a few cabals to replace Mele Kyari with a stooge to serve their interests.

“In looking at Mele Kyari’s records of achievements, you will realise that his contributions to the petroleum industry and the Oil and Gas in particular, have positively impacted Nigeria’s economic strides for development.

“We are talking about the poor success rate by many international giant oil companies in the past, to conduct various seismic exploration activities in search for oil in the northern part of the country without tangible results, where his TAPE agenda changed the narratives as follows:

“When Kyari came on board as the GMD of the NNPC, his efforts yielded positive achievements in the Upper Benue Trough and the Gongola Basin in North Eastern Nigeria, particularly the Kolmani River fields. Kolmani integrated oil field development project located in Alkaleri local government area of Bauchi State, where about over four billion of crude oil deposits are located.

“For the first time in over four decades, Kyari broke a 43 year- old jinx in the NNPC by up -dating and publishing the 2018 Audited Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2018. To consolidate on the landmark achievement, he quickly followed up with the publication of the company’s 2019 AFS, which showed a remarkable loss reduction to just N2.3 billion, with a declaration of a N287 billion Profit After Tax (PAT).

“Highlights of 2019 AFS included a 22 percent decline in general administrative expenses, and a 99.7 percent drop in NNPC’s loss profile, from N803 billion in 2018 to N1.7 billion. For 2021 fiscal year, profit after tax stood at about N674.1 billion, with profit growing by about N387 billion, or 134.8 percent, from about N287 billion realised in 2020, followed by regular publication of the Monthly Financial and Operational Report of the NNPC, in 2016.

“He was a major factor in the resolution of the issues that delayed the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), by the National Assembly for almost two decades.

“Since the unveiling of the Kolmani field development, Kyari has spearheaded more frontier exploration activities across Niger, Nasarawa, Sokoto, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe states in the northern part of the country.

“Through Kyari, the NNPCL has a proven gas reserve base of 208.62 trillion cubic feet (TCF). He also plans to increase gas reserves to 220 TCF in less than 10 years and 250 TCF thereafter. Although the operational environment has posed a huge challenge, Kyari is determined to ensure the country realises these targets.

“He enhanced the creation of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to reassure the international investors of the government’s commitment to the development of the sector.

“Kyari has since announced plans for the NNPCL to enlist in the Nigerian capital market in the near future.

“Through its emergence as an EITI supporting company, Kyari has confirmed the NNPCL as one of the players in the extractive industry that subscribed to the principles, which uphold the EITI Standard and principles through open reporting and public disclosures of details on its finances and operations in Nigeria.

“Also, Kyari has led the NNPCL to pay more attention to the development of the gas sector in keeping with the aspiration of the government to diversify the country’s economic base, by transforming the nation into a gas-driven economy.

“Kyari has identified the global energy transition from fossil fuel and carbon emissions as a veritable opportunity to create huge value for the country’s gas resources, as well as grow the country’s petroleum industry.

“The legacy projects of NNPCL under Kyari’s leadership is the 614 kilometres Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK), pipeline system designed to bridge the economic divide between Nigeria’s North and South regions.

“Kyari and NNPCL are also involved in the execution of some regional integration and economic diversification projects, like the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) executed in collaboration with Togo, Benin and Ghana, to deepen gas supplies and utilisation within the ECOWAS sub-region.

“Kyari is also involved in the execution of the 474 million standard cubic feet of gas per day trans-regional pipeline system, to deliver Nigeria’s natural gas resources to 15 countries in the West and North Africa.

“Construction of the 5,660 kilometres long NMGP, which commenced from Nigeria, that would traverse Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania, to end at Tangiers, a Moroccan port on the Strait of Gibraltar, with a spur connecting the existing Europe gas pipeline through Spain.

“Kyari initiated the construction of the 4,128 kilometres long Trans-Saharan gas pipeline championed by the NNPCL, with its Algerian and Nigerien counterparts as a strategic investment to transport about 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year to the European market.

“Rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to start production by December, 2023.

“Kyari’s model of NNPC’s 4,554 kilometers roads Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), under the Tax Credit Policy is unique. Under the Federal Government’s Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Policy is unique.

“Kyari is strategically positioned NNPC to encourage the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as a cheaper alternative to fuel for cars.

“Undoubtedly, Mele Kyari’s efforts had placed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to compete favorably with its peers in the international oil market.

“In this lap of the journey of Mele Kyari at NNPCL, we implore the media, the Nigerian Public and stakeholders in the petroleum industry and especially, the Oil and Gas sector and the NNPCL management, to avail Mele Kyari, the requisite cooperation and commitment to his noble ideals. This will enhance a robust scenario, such that at the end of the day, we will beat our chests, and acclaim that we have arrived at our economic destination, where our socio- political evolution has been enhanced through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited”, he stated.

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