…urges NNPC GCEO to keep walking the talk
The Chairman of Skymark Energy and Power, Alhaji Muhammad Saleh Hassan, has hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his reappointment of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Malam Mele Kyari for another term.
The energy stakeholder who made the commendation in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the appointment was one of the best things that had happened in the nation’s polity since the beginning of President Tinubu’s administration.
He added that the appointment came at the right time when some critics were expecting the president to put a square peg in a round hole in the country’s energy sector which needs Kyari’s wealth of experience and good track record performance to steer its wheels to the desired destination.
Kyari’s appointment which was announced in a statement on Monday by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, came barely few weeks after some members of the National Assembly had called for his sack, following flaks that he is responsible for the perennial crises ravaging the country’s energy sector.
Hassan expressed delight that Kyari’s reappointment was unarguably a function of his sterling performance and avalanche of achievements since he has been holding sway in the country’s oil conglomerate.
Hassan who is also the National President of One Nigeria Group (ONG), stressed that the development had proved his critics, especially some members of the National Assembly, who had called for his sack, wrong.
“On the other hand, it has proved my humble self right for my consistent calls on government for his retention in office because it is apparent that he is a blessing to not only the country’s oil and gas sector but also to national development and the present administration,” the Skymark Energy and Power boss said.
“Not only me, but also every right- thinking Nigerians who appreciate good stewardship in the interest of this nation, the kind that Kyari has tenaciously demonstrated so far in the country’s energy sector, must thank Tinubu for shunning sentiment and unconstructive criticisms to retain Kyari in office,” Hassan stressed.
“It is indeed a portrayal of the president’s value for qualified hands, technocrats, good track record, integrity, patriotism, transparency and performance. I commented him from the bottom of my heart for demonstrating this rare sincerity and I believe strongly that Kyari, with all these qualities that have worked for him, would not let him nor the the country down,” he noted.
“With his reappointment, President Tinubu has demonstrated his confidence in liveraging Kyari’s experience and expertise in the oil and gas sector to inspire capacity to fix the nation’s economy in a record time and also salvage it from the brink of collapse,” Hassan added.
Hassan expressed optimism that the confidence that Tinubu’s administration had demonstrated through Kiari’s reappointment, would surely motivate him (Kyari) much more to actualise his ideas and innovations and to strengthen the nation’s oil company with a view to engendering economic growth and development.
“Owing to Kyari’s legendary track records in the reformation of the nation’s oil giant, Tinubu has demonstrated confidence in him by reappointing him. By so doing, he has proved his (Kyari’s) critics wrong, especially those who believe that he is responsible for the crises that have bedeviled the country’s oil and gas sector perennially as well as some members of the National Assembly who had called for his sack recently despite his innocence,” Hassan said.
The Skymark Energy and Power boss, however, called on Kyari to justify the confidence reposed in him by maintaining the momentum of his wealth of experience and track record performance to proffer lasting solutions to the industry’s perennial crisis, particularly fuel scarcity and price hike as well as the poor states of the nation’s three refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri.
“Through President Tinubu and Kyari’s mutual efforts, Saudi Aramco has agreed to invest in the NNPCL. It’s therefore crystal-clear that Kyari’s performance has transcended the NNPCL to a level of using his expertise knowledge to galvanise national economic growth and development and
rescue the country from its perennial economic quagmire,” Hassan said.
“I want Malam Mele Kyari to understand that the sky can not even be his limit in his giant strides to set set greater records in his fresh appointment,” he said.
He stressed that even before his new appointment, Kyari had been living up to expectations and had proved his critics wrong in many ways.
“Following his economic transformation stance, the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, had rated him as a pivot of his administration’s achievements which also earned him the OFR honour,” he said
“He played active roles in the passage of Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by former president, Muhammadu Buhari, on August 16, 2021, as well as removal of petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023 by Tinubu’s administration.
“He is the first NNPC CEO to go all the way to the creeks to monitor oil theft and pipeline vandalisation. He was instrumental in the transformation of the NNPC to NNPCL, the ongoing rehabilitation of the nation’s three refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt, curbed oil theft by introducing Saudi Aramco’s model using video surveillance to monitor pipelines carrying crude oil from wells to flow stations in the Niger Delta.
“Before he transformed the NNPC to NNPCL, Kyari had also introduced automated monitoring of pipelines in the country’s oil sector. That is why there is no more pipeline vandalisation.
“I have confidence that Kyari would continue to live up to expectations because he has the capacity to deliver from all cylinders Hassan said.
“There is no doubt that Kyari has a lot up his sleeve to unveil in managing the NNPCL. I urge him to keep walking the talk by following the templates that he has put in place to transform the country’s oil and gas sector beyond the present level, especially by revamping the country’s three ailing refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.
“With his high pedigree of ideas, innovations, doggedness, tenacity, commitment and wealth of experience as well as the confidence that the Federal Government has reposed in him over the years, it is obvious that the country’s energy sector is on the threshold of making history as the best in the African sub-region,” Hassan said.
