By Abdullahi Saniu
Perhaps there is no big public corporation that has been the target of dirty, false narratives than the Nigerian National Petroleum Company(NNPC LTD). The reason is not far-fetched: it is the most important live-wire of the Nigerian economy, in a world economy weakened by inflationary trends, troubled Forex markets and general societal instability. Secondly, politically-exposes persons think that by creating negative impressions about the NNPC, they would be doing political damage to the the government in power – portraying it as incompetent manager of national resources.
One of the famous lies against the NNPC that was bandied in the Nigerian media by the unpatriotic section of the political class was rumours of increase in the pump price of petroleum. This has been on lie that was told many times and the NNPC has repeatedly refuted such fake stories. But much later the same lies would surface. Those harbouring this false narrative in the media are relying on the method of Adolf Hitler’s Propaganda Minister – Joseph Goebbels who once said ” A lie told a millions times becomes the truth”. Propaganda against the NNPC, especially under the current management has been launched at regular intervals.
When the public refuses to consider these rumours, the propagandists would turn to funding a new round of lies, usually designed to dent the image of Malam Mele Kyari – The GCEO of NNPC Limited. They have done so very recently, with speculations about millions of Naira purportedly “stolen” under the current management led by Kyari, without giving any documentary evidence to back such spurious claims. If the NNPC GCEO were to go to court today, there would be tons of litigations and the media industry, which might have been hoodwinked by centrifugal forces, would have closed shop after paying Kyari compensations for libel in millions of Naira.
A few hours before this analysis was written, the NNPC has had to issue another Press Release today, to tackle a trending fake news that the Federal Government is still paying subsidy on petroleum.
The NNPCL’s Mele Kyari has had correct the wrong impression by revealing that the Federal Government is no longer paying subsidy on Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.
While revealing this to State House Correspondents in Abuja on Monday, Kyari said that contrary to insinuations on social media, the Federal Government was no longer paying subsidy to any person or group for bringing petroleum products into the country.
“No subsidy whatsoever. We are recovering our full cost from the products that we import. We sell to the market.
“We understand why marketers are unable to import. We hope that they begin to do so very quickly and these are some of the interventions government is making. There is no subsidy,’’ he said.
Kyari further explained that the pockets of low queues witnessed across some states recently were due to bad roads that had made transporters to divert the product to other routes.
One other fake news story about the NNPC that trended sometime last year was they the NNPCLtd planned to siphon crude oil from the Niger Delta to the North. That was when the beautiful AKK project worth $28 billion was started by the Federal Government under former President Muhammad Buhari. The laughable claim about siphoning crude from Niger Delta to the North fizzled out gradually after the NNPC commences work on sight
More recently, the merchants of politically-motivated fake news about NNPC spread the alarmist impression that an imaginary cabal from Northern Nigeria was favoured in the NNPC’s latest contract awards. The management of the company promptly responded, exposing the white lie.
Permit a long quotation.The NNPCLtd’s reply is reproduced verbatim:-
“The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has been drawn to reports in an isolated section of the media alleging underhand dealings in the award of contracts for the rehabilitation of pipelines across the country.
It is crucial to provide accurate information to address any misconceptions and ensure transparency in our operations. We would like to state categorically that these reports are fallacious and designed to bring the good name of the Company into disrepute.
NNPC Limited is deeply committed to adhering to the highest standards of transparency and global best practices in all our activities, and this includes our contracting process. These contracts, which were advertised, were awarded based on rigorous evaluation criteria and in line with industry norms.
To re-emphasise our commitment to transparency, NNPC subjected the selection process to a competitive tender guided by Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) standards, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission expertise, and the active involvement of a Transaction Advisor. We also had representations from NEITI and the Ministry of Justice in the project development team and the evaluation exercise.
Below is the composition of Consortium members per lot spread across Nigeria.
LOT 1: Oilserve Ltd, Chu Kong Steel Pipe Group Company Ltd, Saudi Crown Oilserve
LOT 2: MacReady Oil and Gas Services, COBRA Instalicios S.A, Control Y Montajes Industriales & International De Pipelines, Iron Products Industries Ltd, Batelitwin Global Services Ltd, Bauen Empresa Constructora SAU, Sanderton Energy Ltd, The Spanish National Association of Manufacturers
LOT 3: A A Rano, Zakhem Construction Nigeria, Bablinks Resources Ltd, VAE Controls S.R.O
LOT 4: MRS Oil and Gas, CPPE Nigeria Ltd
It is imperative to emphasise that these contracts are Build, Operate and Transfer agreements, and selected partners are to finance the rehabilitation and do not entail the transfer of control of these assets to any particular company. Our objective is to enhance the integrity and functionality of the pipelines to facilitate the efficient transportation of crude oil to refineries and the distribution of its products across the country.
The ownership of these strategic national assets remains with NNPC Limited, and we are fully committed to ensuring their continued operation in the interest of over 200 million Nigerians.
Should you have any further inquiries or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always open to engaging in constructive dialogue with all stakeholders.”
With authentic details being provided at regular intervals by the NNPC, the fake news culture is waning. Keen watchers of this happening are already paying attention to NNPC’s structured response of keeping the records straight.
- Sabiu is the Publisher of
THE REPORTERS NIGERIA Magazine and can be reached via 08031322577 maijarida69@gmail.com/ sabiuddeen2012yahoo.com
