Sufuyan Ojeifo
The confusion that has engulfed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited [NNPCL] in recent days has become so enervating that one wonders how long the debacle will persist. Surely, there must be an end to the chaos that now defines the administration of Nigeria’s oil crown jewel.
To say that the vast majority of Nigerians are scandalised by the goings‑on in the NNPCL is an understatement. The developments are not only depressing but also diminishing. There is, therefore, the fierce urgency of now to restore public sanity and decency before further damage is done.
● A GCEO under siege
Leadership, at its core, is about stepping into the storm, not hiding from it. Yet Bayo Bashir Ojulari, the embattled helmsman of NNPCL, has remained cloaked in silence while his legitimacy is consumed by swirling crises. Fuelled by the muddle of resignation sagas, Ojulari has the obligatory duty to speak clearly and loudly about his own fate.
It is not enough to release a press statement or deploy third parties. At a moment like this, when the corporation still lacks a formal spokesperson after the resignation of Olufemi Soneye, the onus lies squarely on Ojulari to fill the vacuum. Only an audio‑visual address, direct and unambiguous, can begin to cure the mischiefs that have escaped into the public space.
Regardless of what efforts he now makes to staunch the bleeding, one conclusion seems inescapable. His administrative legerdemain has been called to question, and his leadership brand gravely wounded. A career of over three decades, beginning at ELF and culminating in his tenure as managing director of SNEPCo, is now overshadowed by questions of discretion, judgement, and probity.
It is instructive to note that Ojulari was appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, which purchased a Shell asset in Nigeria, in January 2024, a position he held until his appointment as NNPCL GCEO. President Bola Tinubu must have tapped Ojulari for the job for some reasons, one of which must have been his perceived capability to deliver.
Ojulari’s Shell background must have, in addition, recommended him very highly for presidential consideration and approbation. On the face of the appointment, Tinubu was believed by industry watchers and analysts to have attracted a thoroughbred technocrat to run the NNPCL. This was validated by the
of other members of the résumés management team and board of the national oil company.
Performance, it was thought, was not going to be a problem. Energy sector analysts like Mr Dan D. Kunle consistently applauded the President’s choice, hailing Ojulari and his team of technocrats as the men and women who could finally bridge the gap between public expectations and operational realities. Hopes were high. The pressure was on.
● From promise to profligacy
Yet the optimism soon began to fray. The audit processes had yet to conclude when Ojulari’s first indiscretion assaulted public sensibilities: the profligate Kigali retreat for top management team members of the NNPCL. Five private jets were reportedly chartered at a cost of over ₦1 billion to convey members to the rendezvous. That figure was for flights alone. By the time the costs of other logistics, freebies, and “conference materials” were added, the magnitude of indulgence became staggering.
The exposure of this excess in a SaharaReporters’ report stripped away the perception of a prudent technocrat. Nigerians who expected a careful steward instead saw reckless extravagance, a betrayal of trust at a time when citizens grapple with rising costs and economic strain.
While the dust on this had yet to settle, a number of other shocking developments assailed public attention. A coalition of civil society groups led a protest to the Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja, calling for Ojulari’s arrest in connection with a $21 million scandal linked to the ongoing detention of Abdullahi Bashir Haske. Haske reportedly confessed to the EFCC that the $21 million, equivalent to ₦34.65 billion, found in his account, belonged to Ojulari.
Instead of issuing a robust rejoinder and providing a counter‑narrative, Ojulari’s media minders allegedly made overtures to online publishers to pull down the reports. That was a poor crisis communication strategy, an evasion rather than a confrontation. It deepened suspicion and eroded confidence further.
There were other negative issues doing the rounds in the media, which should never have been allowed to fester unchecked. Even where damaging reports escaped, one would have expected robust communication interventions to cure the mischiefs. Instead, the NNPCL’s communication architecture under Ojulari has been timid, shambolic, and ineffective.
● The face we see
Appearances often deceive, and Ojulari’s case has become a painful lesson in that truth. Many had believed that his Shell background and comfortable financial standing would inoculate him against the temptations of reckless indulgence. They assumed that with his rounded cheeks and well‑fed frame, evidence of past success, he would not succumb to scandalous behaviour. Alas, they were wrong.
The Yoruba proverb comes to mind: “Ojú la rí, ënìkan ò r’ínú.” We see the face, but not the inside. A variant goes further: “Ojú la rí, òré ò dénú.” We see the face, but friendship does not reach the heart. Both versions point to a timeless reality. Resumes can dazzle and faces can charm, but character is revealed only when the demands of leadership test the soul.
What Nigerians now see is that the real problem lay not in the face, but in the inside — the decisions, instincts, and appetites that no résumé could have predicted. Principles once assumed to be Ojulari’s armour appear to have been compromised, leaving the nation’s most critical corporation diminished and drifting.
● A nation at the crossroads
The NNPCL, the goose that lays Nigeria’s golden eggs, cannot continue along this perilous path. For the sake of public trust and economic stability, clarity and accountability must be restored.
This is no longer about one man’s reputation. It is about the integrity of the nation’s most vital institution. If Ojulari cannot restore confidence swiftly and convincingly, then the Presidency must act with decisiveness. Delay will only prolong the pain.
Nigeria has no luxury of time. The longer the drift, the higher the cost for a people already weighed down by economic strain. In moments like this, leadership is not a matter of convenience but of duty. And the duty is urgent.
● Sufuyan Ojeifo, member of Nigerian Guild of Editors, is publisher/editor-in-chief of THE CONCLAVE online newspaper.
