NNPC: Vested interests fight back, stage war against new management’s reform agenda

A group of persons with vested interest in Nigeria’s oil money, are said to have launched a coordinated campaign of calumny using a section of the media and other clandestine guerilla approach against the new management of the Nigeria Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), with the aim of undermining President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda in the industry.

According to a source, the war is being coordinated by a former Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO) of the Company, who after tendering his resignation, has been making overtures to those that matter at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa for a possible return to the organisation.

The source said, “What began as a quiet effort to assert internal influence has now morphed into a visible war, waged in form of campaign of calumny, with the intent to pour tar on the person of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) in particular and the company’s leadership in general; so much so that unless this dangerous moves are quickly checked, they have the potency to put the nation’s petroleum industry sector in bad light before local and international publics and stakeholders, by extension, making nonsense of the President’s energy reform legacy.”

Findings reveals that this is not the first time the former NNPCL officer’s name has been linked to disruption at the highest levels. Sources at NNPCL said that during the tenure of Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as Minister of State, Petroleum, the same subject reportedly broke ranks. But a similar attempt to unseat Mele Kyari as GMD of NNPC ended abruptly in 2020 after a covertly recorded conversation exposed internal manoeuvrings, prompting his resignation.

The same name has also surfaced in connection with past financial controversies. In the federal government’s recovery of funds related to the Halliburton bribery case, media reports identified him as one of the individuals associated with an escrow account into which over $32.5 million (₦13.5 billion) was deposited. The account, reportedly held at JP Morgan Chase under the name “Madison Avenue Escrow/CBN/FGN Litigation Settlement,” was not in the name of the Federal Government. While no charges were filed and he insisted the structure was legal and in the national interest, questions from the EFCC regarding oversight and transparency remain part of the public record.

Also, in 2023, a whistleblower alleged his involvement in a $280 million oil servicing fraud. He denied the allegation, threatened legal action, and demanded ₦2 billion in damages as well as a public retraction. None has been issued to date.

The source further said that, “yet it is his recent behaviour that has caused the greatest concern. In the lead-up to the appointment of a new Group Chief Executive Officer for NNPC Limited, he was said to have lobbied aggressively-canvassing key figures in the current administration, in hopes of securing the top job. When that effort failed, a new position was created for him”

Though high-ranking, the new position did not grant him a seat on the company’s Board, as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) limits Executive Director positions to the GCEO and GCFO. That lawful exclusion appears to have sparked a campaign of quiet dissent.

According to the source, almost immediately, he began placing close associates in strategic roles across the company, including within the office of the GCEO. He is believed to have cultivated influence in parts of the senior management team while quietly questioning the GCEO’s authority and leadership style-despite the fact that the GCEO was already earning praise for his operational discipline and transparency.

The source revealed further that the situation escalated just days before a major strategy retreat, when blogs began publishing unverified claims about private jet expenses and politically motivated travel. The reports were false, but the damage was done-made worse by a communications team that failed to flag the stories in time. That division, notably, was said to have been the handiwork of the same man.

“Then came the moment that stunned the organisation: while the GCEO was live on stage during a company town hall, he was said to have submitted his resignation-via text message. The timing was interpreted by many as an attempt to destabilise. Within hours, the GCEO revoked all system access and began moving to protect the company’s operations,” the source claimed.

He said, “Days later, the man was said to have started walking back the resignation, privately claiming it had been rejected by higher authorities. No formal statement ever supported that narrative. At a subsequent public event, he approached the GCEO in front of media cameras in what appeared to be a choreographed gesture of reconciliation. Few were convinced.”

Since then, intelligence sources suggest that the subject has been coordinating external pressure using media proxies, contractors, and political allies. Operational instability in certain regions has coincided with these efforts, raising concern that there may be attempts to cast the GCEO as ineffective.

Lamenting, the source said, “What’s at stake is no longer just internal cohesion but a direct challenge to the President’s bold reform of Nigeria’s most strategic state enterprise. The appointment of the current GCEO and the constitution of a new Board and management team was widely regarded as a turning point. For the first time in recent memory, NNPC Limited is led by a group of seasoned professionals with deep technical expertise, international standing, and a clear mandate to run the company commercially. The decision to remove political influence and reward proven competence was met with widespread acclaim both domestically and abroad.

“That this team is already being tested-not by failure or public opposition, but by internal sabotage-is not just unfortunate. It is telling.”

Other public commentators have described the current Board and Management as the most capable NNPC has ever had. Many believe that if this team cannot deliver the long-overdue transformation of the company, no one can.

“What they need now is not interference or engineered instability, but the space, support, and protection to succeed. This isn’t merely a test of corporate governance. It is a test of political will, national reform, and legacy,” one of them said.