By Udeme Akpan and Luminous Jannamike
Opposite to stories from some on-line publications, the Group Chief Govt Officer of the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has not resigned.
A dependable Presidency supply on Saturday described the claims as “false and garbage.”
The stories steered that Ojulari was compelled by the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC) to tender his resignation. Nonetheless, the Presidency supply dismissed these claims as unfaithful.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Ojulari in April 2025, mandating him to hold out reforms geared toward enhancing operational effectivity restoring investor confidence and making NNPC Restricted extra commercially viable.
The President had additionally sacked the earlier board of NNPC, together with its Group Chief Govt Officer, Mele Kyari, and board chairman Pius Akinyelure, as a part of the reforms.
The controversy stems from allegations surrounding a $21 million (₦34.65 billion) corruption scandal. Civil society teams, together with OilWatch Nigeria and the Staff’ Rights Alliance, have known as for Ojulari’s arrest and prosecution.
These teams referenced claims that Abdullahi Bashir Haske, a detained affiliate, allegedly confessed to holding the funds on Ojulari’s behalf. At a press convention on 31 July at EFCC headquarters, the coalition accused Ojulari of financial sabotage, citing the extended shutdown of Nigeria’s refineries and alleged plans to privatise NNPCL property.
The coalition has launched a three-day protest, starting 1 August, on the Nationwide Meeting, NNPCL headquarters, and EFCC workplaces, to press their calls for.
Extra allegations centre on a $21 million kickback scheme involving oil merchants and pipeline contractors, reportedly uncovered after Ojulari reassigned fund assortment duties. This prompted a whistleblower to alert the EFCC, which subsequently froze the implicated account.
In Might 2025, the Socio-Financial Rights and Accountability Challenge (SERAP) had urged each the EFCC and the Impartial Corrupt Practices Fee (ICPC) to analyze claims that ₦500 billion was not remitted by NNPCL to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.
Nonetheless, teams such because the Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiatives (CGGCI) and the Human Rights Writers Affiliation of Nigeria (HURIWA) have defended Ojulari, suggesting that the protests could also be politically motivated efforts to derail his reform agenda.
They counseled initiatives below his management, together with real-time monitoring techniques, audits of beforehand opaque contracts, and efforts to stabilise gasoline provide, which have reportedly diminished queues at petrol stations. These teams have urged President Tinubu to help Ojulari’s anti-corruption efforts.
Critics, nevertheless, have raised considerations about alleged lavish spending, together with a high-cost retreat in Kigali involving non-public jets, in addition to claims of a troublesome work surroundings that has led to employees resignations.
The Niger Delta Environmental Justice Coalition (NDEJC) additionally criticised the reported EFCC-DSS operation, describing it as politically pushed. Nonetheless, the group acknowledged Ojulari’s contributions to boosting oil manufacturing and remittances.
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