The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has decried what it
termed as an orchestrated campaign of calumny to tarnish its reputation
by some unscrupulous elements.
This is contained in a statement
issued in Abuja by Dr Omar Ibrahim, Acting Group General Manager, NNPC
Group Public Affairs Division.
The statement cited the deliberate misrepresentation of the presentation made by the Nigerian Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (NEITI) before the Joint House Committee probing the Berne Declaration Report.
It stated that the report was an example of the well-choreographed negative campaign against the corporation.
“Some
of the reports had sensational headlines alleging that NEITI had
uncovered fresh unremitted $22.8 billion oil revenue by the NNPC.
“However, the body of the story was totally different from the headlines in terms of message and content,’’ it said.
It
said a careful perusal of the original presentation made by the NEITI
Executive Secretary; the sensational headlines were mere inventions.
According
to the statement, this is a calculated attempt to cast aspersion on the
image of the corporation and heat up the polity.
“We wish to
state that there is nothing farther from the truth. NNPC has a copy of
the presentation made by Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, Executive Secretary of
NEITI.
“And nowhere did she allege that NNPC failed to remit $22.8 billion to the Federation Account.
“We
are convinced that there is a conspiracy by some groups or individuals
to drag down the name of the corporation by whatever means possible,’’
It said.
It said that despite the obvious negative campaign
against the corporation, the management of the NNPC under Andrew Yakubu
remains undaunted and determined to achieve its mandate.
