A coalition of Niger Delta youths has thrown its weight behind the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, dismissing calls for his removal as “an aberration.”
The youths, under the aegis of the Host Communities Producing Oil, Gas and Pipeline Impacted States’ Youth Council of Nigeria (HOSTCONYCN), staged a demonstration in Abuja where they described Ojulari as competent, transparent, and committed to reforms in the oil and gas sector.
National President of HOSTCONYCN, Emmanuel Fiawei, said the protest demanding Ojulari’s removal did not represent the position of Niger Delta youths. “That call for him to be removed and replaced is uncalled for. Nigerians are totally against it, and we can never be in support of it,” he said.
Fiawei praised President Bola Tinubu for appointing Ojulari, saying the NNPCL boss had strengthened transparency by publishing monthly revenue updates and boosting crude oil production from about 1.3 million barrels per day to between 1.8 and 2 million. He added that under Ojulari’s leadership, more than N20 trillion had been remitted into the federation account.
National Secretary of the council, Dr. Etta Peters, also condemned opposition to Ojulari, accusing vested interests of resisting reforms. “This is a clear case of ‘if you fight corruption, corruption will fight back’,” he said.
The group passed a vote of confidence on Ojulari, stressing that the Niger Delta comprises over 140 ethnic nationalities and that no single group could claim to speak for the region.
