The Niger Delta Movement for Peoples Right and Development (NDMPRAD) has launched a vigorous defense of former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) executives, specifically targeting the recent allegations made by the South South Youths Initiative (SSYI). In a statement issued in Warri by its Executive Director, Dr. Richard Oloige, the NDMPRAD explicitly condemned the SSYI for what it describes as a calculated smear campaign of blackmail and misinformation against former Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari and retired Executive Vice President (Upstream) Adokiye Tombomieye.
The controversy stems from public claims made by SSYI’s National President, Comrade Imeabe Saviour, who alleged that Tombomieye was responsible for a failed $1.5 billion Port Harcourt Refinery rehabilitation project. The SSYI further purported that Tombomieye, while heading the downstream sector, mismanaged loans during the Muhammadu Buhari administration, specifically alleging a precarious financial arrangement involving crude oil-backed repayments. These accusations have served as the focal point of the SSYI’s public campaign against the retired official.
In response, the NDMPRAD dismantled the SSYI’s allegations, labeling them as a collection of factual errors, mathematical illiteracy, and fundamental misunderstandings of NNPCL corporate governance. The NDMPRAD pointed out that the petition is structurally flawed because it inconsistently identifies Tombomieye as both the Executive Vice President for Downstream and Upstream within the same document. According to the group, this error is not merely technical but reveals a complete lack of operational knowledge, as refinery rehabilitation falls exclusively under the Downstream division, whereas Tombomieye’s tenure was strictly in the Upstream sector.
Beyond the confusion regarding titles, the NDMPRAD attacked the SSYI’s claims regarding refinery financing. Calling the group’s assertion that Nigeria was paying back $8 billion on a $1 billion loan an “embarrassing display of financial illiteracy,” the statement clarified that crude-backed loans are serviced through standard interest rates and volume commitments. The NDMPRAD emphasized that such claims are designed to mislead the public rather than address any legitimate financial impropriety, asserting that the NNPCL’s fiscal operations are far more complex than the populist critiques being circulated.
The NDMPRAD further addressed the SSYI’s attempts to sensationalize the Senate Public Accounts Committee’s review of national financial records. The group cautioned that mischaracterizing cumulative ledger entries totaling N210 trillion from 2017 to 2023 as “missing money” is a mischievous distortion of accounting data. They argued that these figures represent gross balancing between expenses and receivables over a six-year period rather than actual cash shortages. By framing these administrative entries as a scandal, the NDMPRAD warned that the SSYI is actively undermining investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector for political gain.
In its concluding message, the NDMPRAD urged the public to disregard the “hollow threats” and “pedestrian conspiracy theories” propagated by the SSYI. The group asserted that legitimate oversight, including ongoing investigations by bodies like the EFCC and the DSS, relies on professional evidence rather than the unsubstantiated gossip pushed by mobilized groups. Declaring that Niger Delta youths will not be used as pawns in a smear campaign, the NDMPRAD reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the integrity of public servants who have rendered meritorious service to the nation.