The Centre For Human Rights and Accountability Network (CHRAN) has urged President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to sack the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC), Mele Kyari for failing to address the needs of Nigerians by providing petrol across Nigeria at affordable price.
The Human Rights group also want the federal government to repair existing refineries to refine crude oil in Nigeria instead of importing petrol in dollars and selling at falling rates of naira.
Addressing a press conference in Uyo on Wednesday, Chairman of CHRAN in Akwa Ibom State, Atuekong Franklyn Isong said Tinubu should sack the entire NNPC board as they have not delivered their mandate to Nigerians.
“Who do you hold accountable in the Petroleum Ministry? I don’t believe Mr President that there will be a refinery in place before December.
“I am saying that the best thing that will be done is to, first of all, remove the Group Managing Director of NNPC Medikiari from office.
“He was appointed by the past government. He is among the liabilities taken over by this government. He has been there since 2019. What is he doing there? The only thing he is doing is to import petrol which has spoiled our car engines, he later apologized to Nigerians and nobody was sanctioned.
Isong said Tinubu should have sacked the entire NNPC board as he has disbanded other boards and agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“By now, the issue of pump price would have been resolved because his ideas of how to supply petrol and other Petroleum products to Nigerians have expired.
Read Also: Gas Turbine: Isoko issues AGIP 7 days notice, to embark on mass protest
“They are cashing out from what is happening to the detriment of Nigerians.
“If NNPC today supports the local refineries and products are refined here, the need to import petrol will not be there.
“And what they gain as individuals to their accounts would have stopped. That is why we saying that if President Bola Tinubu is determined to address this issue headlong when he came on board, he would remove the GMD of NNPC and appoint someone that understands the pains that Nigerians ate going through and begin to put up plans to fix refineries.”
The CHRAN Chairman faults President Tinubu’s claim that the nation’s refineries will be fixed in December this year adding that such a feat is not feasible.
“Why is he coming now to say that refineries will be fixed in December and the Group Managing Director of NNPC was there since 2019 without fixing it?
“It seems that GMD of NNPC knows what is going on there and should be removed. The entire NNPC board should be dissolved ” he said
