The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria (COCSON) and Bloggers and Vloggers, Content Creators Association (BAVCCA) have urged individuals accusing the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Malam Mele Kyari, of diverting the $2 billion crude-backed loan to provide evidence.
The group warned against politically engineered protests against the immediate past NNPCL boss, urging President Bola Tinubu to overlook undue distraction from enemies of his administration.
Addressing a briefing on behalf of the group on Friday in Abuja, COCSON’s National Mobilisation Officer, Comrade Tabuko Kennedy, and BAVCCA’s Spokesperson, Efe John Abayomi, rejected what they termed a calculated attempt to malign the person and office Kyari hitherto held concerning the $2 billion crude-for-loan deal.
They chided agents of mischief and fake news merchants over baseless media attacks on the former NNPCL GCEO while urging anyone with genuine proof of Kyari’s wrongdoing while in office to present it through proper legal channels and not through sponsored headlines and mob protests.
The groups maintained that Kyari has done everything a true patriotic and honest leader can do in a very difficult economic crisis, adding that the move was part of the solution to Nigeria’s foreign exchange challenge, a puzzle, they argued nearly crumbled the economy.
“The COCSON and the BAVCCA reject in its entirety the targeted media attacks and calculated attempt to malign the person and office of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Malam Mele Kyari, in relation to the $2 billion crude-for-loan deal.
“Let us be clear, this is not a scandal, it is a structured misrepresentation of a standard commercial transaction that predates this administration and has been carefully supervised under the regulatory and sovereign structures of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The $3.3billion Crude-Backed Loan Was a Sovereign Deal, a transaction, executed in collaboration with Afreximbank and backed by the Federal Government, was designed to stabilize Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves and provide a buffer against economic shocks, not to “mortgage Nigeria’s future” as ignorantly portrayed by politically motivated street protesters hired by ungrateful elements working against the progressive leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Kyari was not acting alone because every stage of the crude-for-loan framework was vetted by relevant agencies including the Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Office, and the Attorney General’s Office. Kyari was executing national policy, not personal ambition.
“No Missing Crude, No Diversion of Funds, because there is zero evidence of crude diversion, missing shipments, or financial misappropriation.
“All proceeds and repayment schedules are transparent, documented, and auditable. Anyone who has a valid case should first present proof of their claims instead of taking Nigerians’ collective sense of judgement for a ride.
“Under Kyari’s leadership, NNPCL was transitioned into a commercially run, limited liability company. For the first time in NNPC’s history, its books are published, audited, and made public. That’s not corruption, that’s reform.
“We have credible information that certain vested interests, threatened by the sanitization of the oil sector, are sponsoring protests and media hysteria to derail reforms in the NNPCL. This is a simple case of when you fight corruption, corruption fights back, these corrupt elements are merely fighting back the Mele Kyari reforms.”
