The Integrity Youth Alliance has described as rancorous and groundless a statement credited to one Chief Willy Ezugwu, acclaimed Secretary General of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), which says, “While corruption continued to thrive unbridled at the NNPC under Mallam Mele Kyari, the Federation Government of Nigeria opted to continue to borrow money in connivance with a rubber stamp National Assembly, where equally corrupt politicians have retired as legislators to seemingly help cover the track of serving executives.”
In a statement on Tuesday, the Alliance’s National Coordinator, Kelvin Adegbenga, said that it has become the attitude of Chief Willy Ezugwu, who claimed to be the Secretary General of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), to always criticize the management of NNPC Limited under Mele Kyari.
“We are not surprised that Chief Willy Ezugwu always criticizes Mele Kyari because it is no longer business as usual for him and his so-called CNPP, where they get free money from the NNPC, before the coming on board of Mele Kyari that blocked all the loopholes through the Transparency, Accountability, and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda.
Adegbenga further said that TAPE has brought about greater transparency and accountability in the NNPC’s management of Nigerian oil and gas revenues to date.
The statement read, “The Transparency, Accountability, and Performance Excellence Agenda brought a lot of commendations and encouragement for the NNPC leadership to do better in the coming years.”
“No wonder the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI), a multi-stakeholder coalition that promotes extractives transparency and accountability in over 50 countries, commended Mele Kyari, the then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), for honouring his commitment to promote and deepen the culture of transparency and accountability in the Corporation.
“In a letter addressed to Kyari, the EITI’s Executive Director, Mark Robinson, commented: “The NNPC has set a good example and could lead in championing transparency for other NOCs in Africa.”
“The EITI also welcomed NNPC’s transparency efforts, such as the monthly publication of its financial and operations reports since 2016, as well as the publication of the corporation’s 2018 to 2021 audited financial statements (AFS).
“These efforts demonstrate the corporation’s continued commitment to openness in its business dealings,” according to EITI.
“We are happy that the Buhari-led administration has confidence in the transparency and accountability agenda of the Mele Kyari-led management by appointing him as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited against selfish individuals like Chief Willy Ezugwu and his Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), who have continued to fail politically as can be seen in the just concluded 2023 general election,” the statement concluded.
