BREAKING: NNPCL’s Mele Kyari In Trouble as Group Submits Petition To EFCC, “There is Credible Information“
FCT, Abuja – A petition against Mele Kyari, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has been submitted at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters in Abuja.
A group of lawyers and civil society organizations (CSOs) stormed the EFCC office on Friday, April 25, 2025, with the petition.
Kyari was accused of perpetrating monumental fraud, tax evasion, economic sabotage, and abuse of office during his tenure from July 2019 to February 2025.
The petition alleged that Kyari collaborated with certain consultants and contractors to conceal the actual cost of refinery rehabilitation projects and evade taxes due to the Federal Government.
The leader of the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, Asika Raymond, made the allegations in the petition submitted to the EFCC.
In the statement made available to Legit.ng, the group urged the EFCC to investigate Kyari, and forensically audit all payments made to consultants and contractors from 2019 to 2025.
Asika further urged the anti-graft agency to recover misappropriated public funds and collaborate with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to probe suspected tax evasion.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, who received the petition promised that the Commission will look into it swiftly.
“There is credible information that crude oil allocations were diverted, and financial transactions were carried out under the guise of ‘pipeline security’ at a suspicious rate of 80,000 barrels per day, with no transparent process or accountability mechanism.
“The AKK Pipeline Project, initially valued at $5 billion has been riddled with irregularities in the award and execution of contracts. Despite several budgetary provisions and foreign financing arrangements, there is little physical progress or transparency in fund utilization.
“There have been repeated allegations of fraud tied to the payment of fuel subsidy. It is instructive to note that while the rest of the world witnessed a decline in fuel consumption in 2020 due to COVID, NNPCL increased its imports of petroleum products during the same period.
“Under Mele Kyari, NNPCL took various crude-backed loans which hit $21.565 billion since 2019. Aside from mortgaging future production, the structure of these loans disadvantaged Nigeria as the upside from trading Nigeria’s crude in the international market was ceded to traders.
“The former GCEO also supervised massive spending on oil exploration activities in the aforementioned states. These explorations, allegedly running into several billions of Naira lack proper documentation, feasibility outcomes, or any demonstrable economic returns.”
Protesters demand prosecution of Mele Kyari.
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that over 5,000 protesters under the banner of Concerned Citizens Against Corruption stormed the Ministry of Justice demanding Mele Kyari’s prosecution.
The group cited massive financial irregularities in NNPCL’s refinery rehabilitation projects and questioned a $2 billion debt owed to Matrix Energy.
They called for a judicial review and a full-scale investigation into all transactions conducted under Kyari’s leadership.
