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A civil society organisation, the Nigeria Citizens’ Watch for Good Governance (NCWGG), on Monday dismissed calls for the resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, insisting that the company’s reported ₦7.13 trillion expenditure on pipeline security and energy protection was transparent, justified and had contributed significantly to Nigeria’s recovery in crude oil production.
The group’s position comes amid growing public debate over NNPCL’s disclosure of about ₦7.13 trillion spent on energy security and pipeline protection in its financial records. Critics of the expenditure have questioned the level of public disclosure surrounding the spending and called for Ojulari’s resignation, alleging weak accountability.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the National Chairman of NCWGG, Collins Idowu Eshiofeh, who spoke on behalf of the organisation, described the demand for the NNPCL boss’s resignation as “baseless, economically illiterate and fundamentally unfair,” arguing that it ignored the measurable reforms and operational improvements recorded under the current management.
“We are here today to state categorically that this call is baseless, economically illiterate, and fundamentally unfair to a man whose leadership has brought unprecedented transparency and profitability to an institution that was once a byword for opacity,” Eshiofeh said.
He maintained that the ₦7.13 trillion recorded in the company’s financial statements did not represent a single undisclosed contract but covered a broad national security programme designed to combat crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and illegal refining.
According to him, the expenditure funded aerial and maritime surveillance, deployment of advanced leak detection and fibre-optic monitoring technology, logistics support for security agencies, community intelligence and the rehabilitation of damaged pipelines across the country’s oil-producing areas.
Eshiofeh argued that the security architecture financed through the expenditure had contributed to the recovery of Nigeria’s crude oil production from about 900,000 barrels per day in 2022 to an average of 1.5 million barrels per day in 2024, with recent production exceeding 1.6 million barrels daily, including condensates. He attributed the increase to sustained investment in pipeline protection, citing figures contained in the company’s records.
He further claimed that the additional output of roughly 600,000 barrels per day generated about 48 million dollars in daily revenue for the federation and more than 17 billion dollars annually at an average crude oil price of 80 dollars per barrel, arguing that the returns far outweighed the security expenditure.
The NCWGG chairman also said the operations had resulted in the deactivation of more than 6,000 illegal refineries, the recovery of hundreds of millions of litres of stolen crude oil and refined petroleum products, as well as the dismantling of thousands of illegal pipeline connections.
He rejected allegations that the NNPCL had failed to account for the expenditure, contending that the company had consistently published audited financial statements and monthly operational reports in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
According to Eshiofeh, the company’s audited financial statements released in 2025 reported a profit after tax of ₦3.297 trillion, while its 2024 financial records showed profit after tax exceeding ₦2.5 trillion despite global challenges in the energy market.
He also dismissed claims that the security expenditure amounted to a hidden fuel subsidy.
“The suggestion that the expenditure represents a ‘backdoor subsidy’ is a fundamental misunderstanding of what a subsidy is. A subsidy is a price differential that government pays to keep pump prices artificially low. The ₦7.13 trillion in security spending has nothing to do with the price of petrol at the pump. It is investment in asset protection and national security.”
Eshiofeh described Ojulari as a seasoned oil industry executive with more than three decades of experience, noting that before he was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, he served as Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
He said the NNPCL chief remained committed to President Bola Tinubu’s petroleum sector reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the liberalisation of the downstream petroleum industry, insisting there was no basis for claims that he was undermining the administration’s policy direction.
The group urged President Tinubu to ignore the calls for Ojulari’s resignation, alleging that those behind the campaign were attempting to frustrate ongoing reforms within the national oil company.
“We therefore call on His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to disregard the ill-informed and mischievous demand for the resignation of the GCEO. This call did not emanate from a place of patriotic concern. It emanates from aggrieved rent-seekers who profited from the decades of opacity that Engr. Ojulari is dismantling.”
The organisation also reaffirmed its support for the NNPCL Board, chaired by Engr. Ahmadu Musa Kida, and the company’s management, while calling on the National Assembly to conclude its ongoing investigation into the pipeline security expenditure.
Eshiofeh said the group was confident that the outcome of the legislative probe would affirm that the expenditure was properly incurred, competitively awarded and had delivered measurable value to the country.
The controversy over the company’s security spending comes amid increased public scrutiny of NNPCL’s finances following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act and the transition of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into a commercially driven limited liability company. While critics continue to demand greater transparency over security-related spending, the NCWGG maintained that the investment has been central to protecting critical oil infrastructure, reducing crude oil theft and restoring production levels.
