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OPINION: NNPCL, Abiku, And The National Rip-off

Published

8 hours ago

June 25, 2025

Editor

By Israel Adebiyi

In the heart of Yoruba folklore, there is a child born with mischief stitched into his soul. He is Abiku—the spirit-child who comes into the world, only to die, and return again to inflict fresh sorrow. The desperate mother performs ritual after ritual, consults powerful babaláwos, adorns her child with protective charms, but Abiku always returns, mocking the hope of rebirth. In one telling, the babaláwo himself appears a fruad—his chants loud but empty, his herbs mere weeds.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), formerly NNPC, embodies this tragic metaphor. It is the Abiku of Nigeria’s economic soul. Born in promises, baptized in reforms, renamed with boldness, yet it returns—every time—bearing the curse of failure. No sacrifice, legislation, or rebranding has been able to stop its descent into infamy.

Each administration comes chanting its own incantation. From the Petroleum Industry Bill to the so-called commercialization into NNPCL, none has tamed this entity. Like the mythical child, NNPCL is stuck in a cycle of rebirth without redemption.

Decades after its creation, Nigeria’s national oil company still refines no crude, despite billions of dollars poured into the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries. These refineries remain ceremonial tombstones—massive industrial relics whose pipes no longer carry petroleum but pension burdens. Thousands of workers are paid full salaries at these ghost facilities. Their services neither generate fuel nor add value to the economy. It is a conundrum where work exists in name, and output exists only in fiction.

Yet we continue to fund this lie. As if cursed, every government continues to pump public funds into these dead structures. The anomaly cum insanity deepens when successive administrations spend billions on these infrastructures, in the guise of turn around maintenance without results. What kind of privatized entity relies almost entirely on government goodwill to exist?

Yet again, as if on cue, the spirit-child has returned with blood on its hands.

The latest in this gory saga is the arrest of Umar Isa, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the NNPCL, by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over alleged fraud amounting to $7.2 billion. It is a staggering amount, reportedly linked to funds allocated for the so-called overhaul of the moribund refineries. Also in EFCC custody is Jimoh Olasunkanmi, the former Managing Director of the Warri Refinery.

During his tenure as CFO, Umar Isa allegedly supervised the disbursement of these funds—meant to breathe life into the corpse of our refining system. But instead of progress, Nigeria is left with smoke and mirrors. Allegations now hang over Isa and other senior officials for corruption, gross abuse of office, mismanagement of public funds, and receiving kickbacks from contractors.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: The Elephant Must Beware Of The Red Carpet

Among those reportedly under scrutiny are Tunde Bakare, the current MD of the Warri Refinery, as well as Ahmed Dikko and Ibrahim Onoja, both former MDs of the Port Harcourt Refinery. This unfolding scandal has, once again, brought the dark heart of the NNPCL into view—an institution drowning in opacity and defiance of accountability.

And if this wasn’t damning enough, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, has further sounded the alarm. The Committee flagged irregularities running into trillions of naira within the NNPCL’s finances between 2017 and 2023. Eleven damning queries have been issued to the finance team of the company, with a one-week ultimatum to explain where the smoke has been hiding the fire.

Meanwhile, Nigerians are breaking under the weight of rising petrol and diesel prices. The excuse? Fuel subsidy removal. The justification? Market forces. But who reaps these market rewards? Certainly not the citizens.

What NNPCL should be doing—investing, refining, generating revenue—it has failed to do. But it excels at opaqueness. For years, reports have emerged of trillions of naira in unremitted revenue, unaudited accounts, and shady swap deals. The claim of being a commercial entity has become a curtain drawn across fraud.

Even more troubling is the continued practice where the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria also serves as the Minister of Petroleum. It is a conflict of interest institutionalized. From Obasanjo to Buhari and now Tinubu, this tradition has shielded the petroleum sector from true scrutiny. And what of the National Assembly? Constitutionally empowered to perform oversight, they too have become complicit, rubber-stamping oil budgets and feasting on PR briefings without demanding true accountability.

The Petroleum Industry Act, which was meant to force transparency and push NNPCL toward true efficiency, now looks like yet another incantation in the growing pile of failed chants. It has not delivered competition, efficiency, or openness.

The tragedy is sharpened when one looks across to Dangote Refinery, a private investment that, without state subvention, is already setting a new benchmark. Dangote’s effort, flawed or not, at least reflects progress. NNPCL, by contrast, remains a mythical burden—too big to work and too sacred to touch.

So what do we do with a child like Abiku?

In the old stories, the only solution was brutal: expose him, reject the charm of return, and deny him the chance to keep the family in perpetual mourning. For Nigeria, this means a complete overhaul of the petroleum sector, not cosmetic renamings. It means dismantling what doesn’t work, opening up what is hidden, and giving way to systems that serve the people, not powerful cartels.

We must probe the NNPCL—not with press releases but with forensic audits. We must legislate actual penalties for failure and demand restitution for public funds misused. And we must, finally, separate governance from business.

Nigeria cannot afford to keep nurturing a child that brings no joy, only sorrow.

Until we are bold enough to lay Abiku to rest, we will continue to mourn over the carcass of our oil dreams.

News

Okpebholo’s ₦100b Loan Generates Reactions, Controversy

Published

4 hours ago

June 25, 2025

Editor

A Hundred Billion Naira loan approved by the Edo State House of Assembly as support for Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration in delivering key infrastructural projects across the state is generating controversy and reactions from the public.

In a phone-in programme on Benin-based B-Side Radio 98.1FM, while some callers asked the presenter to crosscheck if the loan really amounts to ₦100b or ₦100m, some questioned the rationale behind such a huge loan.

Also, while some callers chided Okpebholo’s administration for such a huge loan, some callers into the programme asked if such a huge loan is what the state needs at the moment in whatsoever infrastructure it may be used for, arguing that poverty and insecurity has taken over the state.

The callere urged the governor to address pressing issues such as insecurity and hardship rather than things that ordinarily does not add values to their lives.

The Edo State House of Assembly had yesterday
approved a ₦100 billion loan facility from First Bank of Nigeria PLC to support Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration in delivering key infrastructural projects across the state.

According to the State Assembly, the loan will be utilized to finance major infrastructural developments, contractor financing, and urban renewal projects in line with the Governor’s five-point development agenda.

These projects are expected to boost economic growth, improve transportation, create job opportunities, and enhance the overall quality of life for Edo citizens.

Speaking during the plenary session, the Majority Leader, Hon. Jonathan Ibhamawu, highlighted several key projects the loan would support. These include the construction of flyover bridges at Ikpoba-Hill, Dawson Junction, and Adesuwa Junction in Benin City, as well as the development of major roads in Edo Central ,Edo South and Edo North Senatorial Districts.

Hon. Ibhamawu also explained that while the state government has budgeted for these developments, revenue allocations from the federal level have fallen short of expectations, making the loan necessary to meet the administration’s goals.

The Speaker, Hon Blessing Agbebaku, emphasized that his local government Owan West and other local government would also benefit significantly from the infrastructural projects. The loan approval was passed through a voice vote by the lawmakers, after which the Speaker directed the Clerk, Alhaji Yahaya Audu Omogbai, to forward clean copies of the resolution to the Governor.

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IPOB Rejects FG’s Ranching Proposal, Says It’s ‘Land Grabbing’

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2025

Editor

The Indigenous People of Biafra, has condemned the announcement by President Bola Tinubu, proposing the establishment of cattle ranches in Abuja, the ancestral homeland of the Gbagi people and other states across the country.

The pro-Biafran group said the move is nothing but Ruga repackaged and a sinister land-grabbing strategy cloaked in government policy.

In a press statement released on Tuesday, IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, said it is a shame that in the 21st century, the Federal Government is prioritising cow colonies over education, security, and innovation.

Powerful said what began as the “need for grazing” centuries ago led to the total subjugation of proud territories, adding, “the rise of alien emirates, and the transformation of indigenous owners of the land into strangers in their ancestral homes. Abuja is about to witness the same fate if this madness is not stopped.”

The statement read in part, “President Tinubu unaware that no sensible country in the world keeps cattle around its capital city?

“Let him point to any major city—from Nairobi to New Delhi, São Paulo to Seoul—where cattle are granted permanent settlements around central governance zones.

“This absurdity is uniquely Nigerian, and disgracefully so.”

While saying that the land around Abuja belongs to the Gbagi people, Powerful said, “To dispossess them by executive fiat is an unforgivable act of aggression and cultural genocide.”

He added, “Today, the Gbagi are being pushed to the margins; tomorrow, there will be an Emir of Abuja. And in 60 years—just like what befell the Hausas—the Gbagi will be footnotes in history, reduced to relics of their own heritage.

“Let it be known that IPOB shall resist any attempt—direct or indirect—to impose this toxic expansionist agenda anywhere in Biafraland. No inch of our territory will be given for herder settlements, cattle corridors, or so-called ranching. Our forests, our villages, our farmlands are sacred to us—not bargaining chips in a federal contract of death.

“Let them be transported by rail, just as is done in civilised societies. That’s how a serious nation handles its livestock economy—not by slaughtering indigenous peoples and seizing their homes under the guise of ranching.”

According to him, no progressive nation erects ranches next to homes, schools, and marketplaces. The fact that this administration cannot comprehend this basic logic is a reflection of its failure, not ours.

“IPOB stands with the Gbagi people and every other indigenous nationality facing existential threats from Fulani neo-colonial conquest dressed up as national policy. Our diversity must be respected, our cultures preserved, and our ancestral lands protected. Let the killings in the name of cows stop. Let the bloodletting cease. Let Nigeria choose reason over ruin,” the statement added.

News

MultiChoice Cuts DStv Decoder Price By 50% To Attract Subscribers

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2025

Editor

MultiChoice Nigeria has slashed the price of its DStv decoder by 50 per cent, dropping it from ₦20,000 to ₦10,000.

The company announced that the move aimed to attract more customers and curb declining subscriptions.

According to the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, John Ugbe, in a statement released on Tuesday, the offer was a way of rewarding customer loyalty and delivering enhanced value to subscribers.

“We want to ensure our customers feel appreciated and have access to the best entertainment every day. The ‘We Got You’ campaign is about making premium content more accessible and showing that DStv offers something for everyone, not just football fans.

“By repositioning itself as a platform for daily value, DStv aims to encourage content discovery across a wider array of genres, including movies, drama, kids’ programming, and news.

“This means more channels, more shows, and more reasons to tune in every day,” the statement added.

The company also announced a promotional offer granting subscribers a free upgrade to the next DStv package tier when they pay for their current plan in full between June 16 and July 31, 2025.

Multichoice maintained the price slash, and the free upgrade initiative is a response “to the noticeable economic impact on the everyday lives of Nigerians.”

This was coming after it lost 1.4 million subscribers between March 2023 and March 2025.

Recall that MultiChoice Nigeria increased its DStv and GOtv bouquet prices three times within 12 months — first in April 2023, followed by another hike in November 2023, and a third announced in April 2024, which took effect on May 1.