CSOs Withdraw Petition Seeking Mele Kyari’s Probe, Say Lawmaker Misled Them 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) fighting corruption in Nigeria has withdrawn its petition seeking the probe of the former Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, over alleged corrupt practices while in office.

This is coming barely a week after members of the CSOs staged a protest calling for the probe of the former NNPCL helmsman.

The groups, under the auspices of Concerned Citizens Against Corruption (CCAC), had last week led a protest to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to call for the prosecution of Kyari and submitted a formal petition.

The coalition, during the protest, lamented that despite the dissolution of the management and the entire NNPCL board by President Bola Tinubu on April 2, 2025, no steps had been taken to investigate the alleged corrupt practices under the former GMD/CEO’s leadership.

But addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the convener of the CCAC, Comrade Kabir Matazu, admitted that its April 23 protest at the Federal Ministry of Justice was hasty, premature and lacking in facts.

He claimed that the earlier decision by the group to launch a nationwide protest and demand the probe of Kyari was driven by limited understanding of the strategic intents and works of the NNPCL as a limited liability company. 

Matazu said the group acted on misinformation provided by individuals with questionable motives, particularly Philip Agbese, the House of Representatives member representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency 1 as one of those who misled them into making unfounded accusations.

According to him, having consulted widely and reviewed the facts, “we are convinced that Kyari acted within the scope of his responsibilities and in accordance with due process”. 

He said: “As responsible corporate citizens, we and all our civil society partners, who organized a protest on 23rd April, 2025 against Mallam Mele Kyari have taken the hard decision of admitting that our earlier decision to launch a nationwide protest and demand the probe of the Ex-NNPLC boss was driven by our limited understanding of the strategic intents and works of the NNPC as a limited liability company under the leadership of Mele Kyari. 

“Our action was therefore hasty, premature and lacking in facts.

“Despite our constructive and patriotic intentions which were aimed at fostering accountability and transparency in governance, we were misled by those we trusted to provide us with the basic facts.

“Particularly, Hon. Philip Agbese provided ill-concieved and misguided information to our group. 

“Indeed, no amount of apology will compensate for the damage caused by our own admissible errors and outings.

“It is highly regrettable that, despite our best efforts, we were dragged unknowingly into the allegation about a crude deal with Matrix Energy by individuals with unpatriotic intentions. 

“We admit in humility that it is statutory for NNPCL, whether under Kyari or the new management, to enter into business agreements.

“There is nothing illegal about what the company did under Mallam Mele Kyari as we were erroneously made to believe. NNPCL is sanctioned at the highest authorities to enter into such deals and if there are issues, it will be handled appropriately in close coordination with the Ministry of Petroleum.”

The group further praised Kyari’s leadership during his time at NNPCL, noting his role in the transformation of the organisation, the unbundling of the company, the return to profitability and efforts to revive Nigeria’s long-dormant refineries.

Part of the statement read: “Mr. Mele Kyari with accumulated years of professional expertise also supervised and coordinated transformation efforts that led to the take-off of local refining, including giving all support thereto. 

“The revival of Nigeria’s decades-long moribund local public refineries are all traceable to his selfless and professional wit.That record cannot be twisted and we did not set out to twist them except that we were misled.

“The position of credible labour unions and interest groups in the petroleum sector such as Trade Union Congress (TUC), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) clearly shows we acted out of ignorance. 

“Whereas accountability is the watchword of public service, we have now come to the realization that we acted without due diligence and alone as all stakeholders have vehemently refuted our claims with hard facts.

“Let it be known that, we are retracting our petition and position prior stated at the protest. We are not condoning corruption but simply acknowledging, an incorruptible man was targeted wrongly and we apologize.”

ReplyReply allForwardAdd reaction