ABUJA: Pro-democracy groups under the aegis of Coalition for Good Governance CGG, has urged President Bola Tinubu and the public to disregard what it described as a smear campaign against the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited NNPCL, Mr. Bayo Ojulari.
The group said its findings showed that the campaign was not based on facts or performance but was being orchestrated by vested interests determined to reclaim influence and patronage within the oil and gas sector.
In a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja, the National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Olaniyi Olawale, stressed that the reform agenda being pursued by Ojulari must not be derailed by “fabricated conspiracies or cabal-driven propaganda.”
He appealed to President Tinubu to continue to back the NNPCL boss, describing him as a professional who has shown “visionary and results-oriented leadership” since assuming office.
According to the coalition, Ojulari’s achievements include operational repositioning of NNPCL through efficiency measures, enforcement of global best practices in transparency and corporate governance, renewed investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, and alignment with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“By every measurable indicator, Mr. Ojulari remains one of the best-performing appointees of this administration — a technocrat committed to service delivery, not politics,” the group stated.
It warned that the falsehoods being circulated against Ojulari — ranging from alleged political collusion to frivolous business ties — were tools of blackmail aimed at forcing the Presidency into hasty and ill-advised decisions.
The coalition further cautioned that succumbing to such pressure would embolden corrupt actors, erode investor trust, slow capital inflows and damage Nigeria’s image in the global energy market.
“The enemies of reform may roar loudly, but truth, performance, and service to the nation will ultimately prevail,” the coalition said.
