“Ojulari flew to Vienna, Austria aboard another private jet to attend OPEC Seminar in a trip that cost NNPC about $1 million. While Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum flew to same event on British Airways.” Blow-by-blow account of hot petro-political fire threatening to consume the SNEPCo’s ex-MD as NNPC GCEO
The over five kilometers distance between Aso rock – the Nigeria’s seat of power – and the Towers – the global headquaters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) – figuratively betrayed the law of proximity on Saturday, August 2. That day, many men of power at the two seats of political and petroleum authorities in the country were like the proverbial birds that perched on a dangling rope leaving media men and stakeholders in confused states of mind.
An online newspaper had published a story alleging that Bayo Ojulari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, has been “abducted” by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) where the anti-graft agency allegedly forced him to sign a resignation letter. The operation to detain and coerce Ojulari into resignation, the report further alleged, was championed reportedly by the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, and the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Adeola Ajayi.
The spontaneous reactions across the political and energy spaces in Nigeria over the report was huge, however, that was dwarfed by the graveyard silence by three key institutions mentioned. No word from EFCC, no word from DSS, and, of course, none from the NNPC. All the entities issued no statement to confirm or refute the weighty allegations, and this did not only worsen the confusion at both Aso rock and the Towers, but it also made same thought of this-or-that to literally flutter through the minds of many employees at the two mansions.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who was quoted to have, in a text message, dismissed the report as false and unfounded, did not share this same statement on any of his social or official media Handles. Now, it seems no one wants to talk. No one want his head to be used to break the proverbial coconut.
As this drama unfolds, everyone who knows Ojulari now has a thirst which only the water made of information can quench. Checks by Platforms Africa revealed a few of the real issues that might have brought the former Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in trouble.
The High-Flying Life of Bayo Ojulari—While Nigeria Bleeds
This frontliner media group gathered that number one on the list of complaints received by the EFCC on Ojulari was his flamboyance and extravagance at the detriment of the NNPC which has been in dire need of diligence and frugality.
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A source at the Presidency told this newspaper that the anti-graft agency truly invited the NNPC boss to come and shed lights on some of the allegations against him. Though the issues were raised about his resignation, the source couldn’t confirm whether he resigned or not, but he declared that there was a push back at the Presidency over this.
“He was not forced to resign. He was invited and shown hard facts about his alleged frivolous lifestyle and at that point, he could have tendered his resignation.
“However, the truth is that there has been a push back on this from the President who needed to be properly briefed before he could take a decisive action on it,” the source declared.
On Ojulari’s alleged sin, he said; “In a nation teetering under the weight of economic hardship, starvation, and dwindling oil revenues, one man appears to be living in a world of unimaginable luxury, far removed from the everyday reality of millions of Nigerians. Bayo Ojulari, the embattled Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has turned his tenure into what many now describe as a global odyssey of opulence.
“Since assuming office just over three months ago, Ojulari has not boarded a single commercial flight. Instead, the state oil company boss has indulged in a jet-set lifestyle more befitting a billionaire playboy than the head of a struggling national energy corporation. Less than two weeks into his role, Ojulari reportedly jetted off to Paris aboard a private aircraft, accompanied by none other than his controversial business partner, Atiku Abubakar’s son-in-law, Abdullahi Heske. From Paris, the jet roared off to London where Ojulari met the President—an early glimpse into the GCEO’s taste for flamboyance.”
Trouble with Minister
Confirming that the NNPC GCEO lifestyles had, within the last 100 days, caught the ministers of state for Petroleum – his superiors, in serious surprise, the source claimed that while the minister of state for Petroleum Resources (oil), Dr. Heineken Lokpobiri, flew British Airways to Vienna for a seminar organised by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the NNPC Boss went to the same venue in far away Austria in a chartered private jet.
“Yet perhaps the most galling display came in July, when Ojulari flew to Vienna, Austria aboard another private jet to attend the International OPEC Seminar. While Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum flew on British Airways, Ojulari’s journey reportedly cost NNPCL close to $1 million,” he declared, adding that this is one of the questions he was invited to answer at the EFCC office of Friday.
Insiders at the NNPC said that the trip had no tangible returns for the company, only an expensive reminder of how far removed its leader is from the nation’s struggles.
Private Visits During Oil Crisis
Earlier in May, while the Nigeria’s oil output plummeted and NNPCL’s operational struggles mounted, Ojulari was spotted in Bologna, Italy on yet another private visit. But the spectacle didn’t end there. Sources confirmed a luxury detour to Monaco to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix, sipping rare champagne while Nigeria’s refineries remained comatose.
Weeks later, the extravagance reached a fever pitch. To mark his 60th birthday, Ojulari and Heske reportedly chartered two private jets to Dubai, turning the desert city into a lavish playground. One of the jets, according to insiders, ferried in “his ladies”, while a fountain of Dom Pérignon, single malt whiskies, and vintage cognac flowed throughout the weekend. “It was like a royal coronation,” said a source present at the party.
“Imported chefs, luxury hotels, Rolexes exchanged as party souvenirs, this man lives like oil wells are buried in his backyard.”
No Visit To Refinery
Even more damning, Ojulari has yet to step foot in any NNPC refinery, nor has he visited the Niger Delta, the very heart of Nigeria’s petroleum wealth. “He’s allergic to hardship,” quipped one senior NNPCL staffer. “Unless there’s a champagne lounge, women and a private runway, he’s not showing up.”
Riot Act NUPENG, PENGASSAN Earlier Read
PENGASSAN GEC Secretary, Amaoge Chukwudi; his NUPENG counterpart, Paulosa O. Paulosa; the PENGASSAN GEC Chairman, Solomon Orieji; and his NUPENG colleague, Baba Kaumi, have earlier warned Ojulari against the proverbial banana peel at the Towers, describing what they called the appointment of non-staff into management positions as an unjust action capable of undermining staff career growth.
Saying they may not guarantee industrial harmony if the trend is repeated, the oil workers unions in a referenced, PEN/NUP.GEC.SEC. 04/25/04.2, and titled, ‘Filling of Top Management Positions in NNPC Limited With Externally Recruited Personnel is Unacceptable to PENGASSAN & NUPENG GEC,’ threatened, “We must, therefore, caution against any unjust action that undermines the career growth of deserving staff members of our company. If this warning is ignored, we cannot guarantee the continuation of industrial harmony within NNPC Limited.
“Therefore, this letter serves to put the management and the Board of NNPC Limited on notice that PENGASSAN and NUPENG categorically reject any recruitment or appointment of senior or management staff above the SS6 cadre (specifically within the SS5 to M2 cadre) from outside the organisation. Any attempt to do so will be met with strong resistance, including a total shutdown of operations.”
Reactions From NNPC
Efforts to get official reaction from the NNPC was fruitless as the company has no known spokesperson since Femi Soneye stepped aside, but a staff of the company said that what is seeing by many as flamboyance and extravagance may not truly mean the same for Ojulari, who left the SNEPCo as a Managing Director.
“Traveling in private jet may not mean extravagance to the man who was a senior employee of Shell for many years before leaving the oil major as the MD overseing Bonga,” he said refering Platforms Africa to an earlier statement alleging campaign of calumny against the Ojulari-led management.
The statement issued on June 27 reads; “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has uncovered an emerging coordinated sabotage campaign being waged by a syndicate of known and faceless actors, both outside and within various levels of the state oil company.”
“We expect a surge of defamatory content in the days and weeks ahead. NNPC Limited remains undeterred. The transformation is underway, and no amount of sabotage will stop it.”
Last Line
As both Aso Rock and the NNPC remain in deep silence over Ojulari’s ordeal with the EFCC, Nigerians are anxious to know the outcome of the suspense-filled theatrics about the man in charge of the country’s oil assets and prosperity. While some believed that Ojulari, just like the meaning of his name, is being betrayed by those he trusted, others queried how much longer the nation can afford his wasteful rendezvous that blighted his term as GCEO of NNPC.
Platforms Africa
