- The NNPC fell into this unpleasantness and sorry state because the people at the corridor of power wanted it that way
It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to find a public institution in Nigeria that is not neck-deep in corruption and larceny, and no other government ministry or agency exemplifies the entrenched corruption and ingrained impunity that pervades Nigeria’s public institution like the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The revelation by the World Bank that the NNPCL can’t account for N500 billion has once again brought to the fore the disturbing rot in the state-owned oil company. According to the Bretton Woods Institution, out of the N1.1tn revenue from crude sales and other income in 2024, the NNPCL only remitted N600bn, leaving a deficit of N500bn unaccounted for.
This unsettling revelation is coming mere days after it was reported that the Port Harcourt and Warri Refinery had been shut down by the company with little or no refining activity after the commencement of operation was announced with aplomb late last year after over $2 billion was spent on the purported revival of the refinery. This quick succession of unsettling news of how those appointed to manage the NNPCL and, to a great extent, the revenue that accrues to the nation from oil sales is just a scratch on the surface of a giant barrel of massive corruption, malfeasance, mismanagement and brazen diversion of state fund that NNPCL has turned into.
What makes the situation of things at NNPC even more worrisome and troubling is the knowledge of how state-owned oil companies in other climes are run and managed. They are run with the efficiency, accountability and transparency of private entities while managing to put the interest of the nation and its people first. These are nations where leaders are nationalistic in their approach to governance and utilisation of public resources and understand what nation-building is all about. The story is different in Nigeria. Our politics and governance are shaped by prebendalism among self-serving, power-hungry and money-seeking charlatans masquerading as political elites.
The NNPC fell into this unpleasantness and sorry state because the people at the corridor of power wanted it that way. No president has shown the willingness and political will to address the elephant in the room and clean the Augean stable that NNPCL has become. This has emboldened successive chairmen of the company to act recklessly and unconscionably. From former Petroleum minister Deziani Maduekei to the immediate past CEO of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, the NNPCL has been enmeshed in staggering corruption scandals under practically all governments since the return to democracy in 1999.
While some civil society organisations and accountability and transparency watchdogs like the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have taken it upon themselves to rid the system of the rot and perversion as seen in the recent suit filed against the NNPC over the alleged missing N500bn, their efforts are also being undermined by systemic corruption that plagues the Nigerian judiciary. Also, the nation’s foremost anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), has not exactly been living up to its responsibility of going after corrupt public officials. If anything, it has become a tool of persecution and blackmail in the hands of the ruling party.
Many Nigerians don’t expect much from Tinubu when it comes to tackling corruption as his antecedent and cutthroat political ideology runs counter to the ideals of probity and transparency in government. Since coming to power, his body language has not really inspired confidence in the area of fighting graft. If anything, he has shown he is willing to condone corruption and look the other way it serves his interest.
If one can’t expect the president to grab the bull by the horns and tackle the rot in NNPC, who then is going to clean the Augean stable?
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