By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, on Thursday, raised the alarm that there are formidable plans to remove him from office, disclosing that he has also come under coordinated attacks since assumption of office.
Ojulari disclosed this when he received leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in his office in Abuja.
He told the gathering of national, zonal and branch executives of PENGASSAN who paid him a solidarity visit that the support of the union had given him deep moral and psychological reassurance in this difficult moment.
Ojulari however said that he remained committed to driving the reforms mandated by President Bola Tinubu.
“There is no hiding around all the attacks that I have received and all the plans to take me out of this seat. Let us not pretend. It is a real formidable plan. So anybody that tells you that it is fake, it is not fake.
“And quite a number of the leadership team members have also been under attack, but we are resolved to stay focused,” he said.
The NNPCL chief disclosed that the management halted operations at Port Harcourt Refinery after discovering huge losses of up to N500 million due to years of neglect and poor output.
He said the NNPCL was ready to bring in private refining partners as part of a divestment plan to revive Nigeria’s long-idle refineries.
Ojulari added that the company has now completed a technical and commercial review and was in talks with professional refining firms to take over operations under a joint arrangement.
“We need to put these refineries on a sustainable and profitable path. It will not be in the best interest of Nigerians for us to continue sinking money into facilities that run at a loss,” he added.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo commended the management’s approach, noting that Ojulari had introduced for the first time procedural agreements into the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
He also pledged the Union’s support for reforms, insisting that “when NNPCL prospers, our members will also prosper.”
