Abiodun JIMOH
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has revealed that his life and those of his management team are under serious threat as resistance mounts against ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector.
Ojulari, who was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to spearhead the turnaround of Nigeria’s moribund refineries and reposition the national oil company, disclosed the disturbing development on Thursday while addressing a delegation of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) led by its president, Comrade Festus Osifo, at the company’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to Ojulari, the threats are linked to entrenched interests fighting back against policy changes designed to improve efficiency, curb leakages, and restore transparency in the company’s operations. He lamented that some powerful elements are plotting to undermine his leadership and force him out of office.
“My only offense is trying to deliver on the mandate given to me by President Tinubu to revive the refineries and bring sanity to our oil and gas system. But because of these reforms, my life and those of members of my management team are now under threat,” Ojulari stated.
PENGASSAN’s leadership expressed solidarity with Ojulari, commending his courage and pledging to resist any attempt to derail the reform process. Osifo noted that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector has long suffered from vested interests, stressing that only bold reforms can safeguard the country’s economic future.
Ojulari’s revelation underscores the intense power struggles within Nigeria’s petroleum industry, where reforms have historically faced strong resistance from entrenched beneficiaries of inefficiency and corruption
