Investigate alleged threats on NNPC boss, Itsekiri group tasks IGP, DSS

…applauds reforms in oil industry 

A Delta State based organisation, Itsekiri Progressive Youth Movement (IPYM), has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun and other relevant security agencies to investigate the alleged threats to life raised by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Ltd), Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari.     

Speaking last week at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, while playing host to a delegation from the national body of the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) led by its president, Comrade Festus Osifo, alleged that he was facing threats to his life because certain forces were not comfortable with the reforms he has introduced to instill sanity in the oil sector.

He maintained that the reforms have unsettled the forces who benefit tremendously from the current inefficiencies in the oil and gas sector, particularly  the comatose shape of the nation four refineries.

He said: “We are under attack. We will not budge to short-term pressure, as it will not be in the best interest of Nigerians. You cannot drive change without a price, and the transformation is tough”

The IPYM, in a statement issued at the weekend, noted that an orchestrated protest staged in Abuja calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sack Ojulari and his alarm of threats to life  should not be treated with levity by security agencies.

The statement signed by Comrade Jerry Atiene and Honourable Romeo Ogedegbe, National Chairman and General Secretary, respectively, declared that security agents must unmask individuals behind the threats to the life of the NNPC GCEO.

 “We were deeply troubled when the NNPC Boss, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, disclosed that his life and those of the company’s management staff were being threatened.                       

 “Patriotic Nigerians and critical stakeholders should be worried by Engr. Ojulari’s statement that his offence was introducing reforms in the oil and gas sector, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s determination to revive the moribund public refineries in PortHarcourt, Warri and Kaduna.                        

“Security agencies should  swing into action immediately to unmask those behind the threats and blackmail.”                 

Whilst positing that the Ojulari-must-go protest at Abuja was a classical case of corruption fighting back, IPYM called on the GCEO of the NNPCL not to be deterred in his resolve to make the NNPCL profit-oriented and ensure the four public-owned refineries across the country work optimally.                              

The group further pleaded with Nigerians to give the Engr. Ojulari-led management of NNPC Ltd time to turn around the fortunes of our public refineries toward a progressive trajectory and contribute more meaningfully to our national development.

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