NYCN backs down on call for the step aside of NNPC GCEO
NYCN backs down on call for the step aside of NNPC GCEO
By: Our Correspondent
The Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has withdrawn its earlier call for the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mr. Kolo Mele Kyari, to step aside to allow an unfettered probe into allegations of payment of ₦20bn to ghost contractors and manipulation of the subsidy regime.
The National President of the NYCN, Isah Abubakar, made the statement during a press conference held in Kaduna yesterday.
Abubakar said the decision was informed by the fact that the House of Representatives intends to rely on an American fugitive, Marcos Ramirez, who has been declared wanted by Interpol and US security agencies, as a principal witness in the investigation of the allegation of illegal sales of over 40 million barrels of crude by the NNPC and other probes into the activities of the company.
Abubakar added that it is on record that these smuggled products that were intercepted in China took place long before Kyari assumed the leadership of the NNPC and later NNPCL.
“The same character was slammed with $250,000 bail by the Lagos High Court over the Green Card scam. His Mexican associate, Jose Salazar Tinajero, has been in and out of jail in South America due to the involvement of his company, SAMANO, in highly sophisticated smuggling and money laundering scams. The same SAMANO Company is the one some of his associates want Nigeria to pay whistleblower rewards into their account.”
The Youth Council stressed that at this critical time in the nation’s history, they expected all Nigerians to rally around the federal government and ensure that there is a peaceful transition so that the next government will start on a clean slate, not setting up turbulent ground for them to fail.
“The Council shall remain committed in its fight for a just Nigeria, where the country will work for all of us. We won’t allow ourselves to be dragged into a selfish fight of people who might have lost the election and are therefore looking for gratuity for Federal Government Agencies in the name of probes.”
“With the recent declaration of profit by the NNPCL and commitment to construct several roads worth over ₦1.5 trillion from tax relief by the company, which is unprecedented in our national history, the Mele Kyari-led NNPCL deserves commendations, not condemnation from Nigerians.
“Finally, our group shall keep Interpol updated on when Marcos will appear before the National Assembly to give his testimony so that he can be picked up to answer questions that border on his indictment in a case filed on March 29, 2016, before the US District Court in the Southern District of Texas named Mr Ramirez and his wife, Bebe Ramirez, of being behind a fraud syndicate that swindled people of millions of dollars through various mail and wire fraud schemes between 2010 and 2013.” He said.
