Arewa youth group seek support for 2 million barrels daily oil production

A coalition of Northern stakeholders under the auspices of the Arewa Youths Assembly has commended the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for declaring a net profit of N3.297 trillion at the close of the 2023 financial year.

The amount represented an increase of over N700 billion or 28 per cent compared to the 2022 profit of N2.548 trillion. The company also declared a substantial final dividend of N2.1 trillion.

The group also appealed to Nigerians and security agencies to support the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari, in achieving the target of two million barrels per day crude oil production by the end of the year.

Speaker of the Arewa Youth Assembly, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, in a statement on Tuesday, while describing Kyari as a record breaker, said the antecedents of the NNPCL boss speak volumes about him, stating that “he is the only and first ever to break the jinx and declare a profit in the years of NNPCL’s existence.”

He said: “Under Kyari, the NNPCL has undergone a phase of defying gravity against all odds to change the usual narratives. The NNPCL went from recording a loss of N803 billion in 2018 to reducing that figure to N1.7 billion in 2019. Kyari continued to strike, and in the year 2020, the NNPCL under Kyari declared, for the first time in history, a profit of N287 billion. Then in 2021, it recorded a N674.1 billion profit, and in 2022, the profit grew to N2.548 trillion, marking the era of momentum in his journey from zero to possibility, turning point to assurance and momentum, and now the unprecedented and record-breaking profit of N3.297 trillion for 2023, which is the highest since NNPCL was founded almost 50 years ago.

“Kyari has remained the most honest, transparent, accountable, and excellent individual to head the NNPCL. His commitment to work is second to none, and his initiatives have so far lifted the NNPCL from the shackles of revenue loss and leakages to a profit-making organisation, giving it a new reputation in Nigeria, Africa, and the world.”

Danlami lauded the introduction of the Transparency, Accountability, and Performance Excellence (TAPE) initiative, which mandated the publication of the Monthly Financial and Operations Reports (MFOR) of the NNPCL.

“It is clear now that Kyari is synonymous with success. He has put all naysayers, those blackmailing and slandering him, to shame with the enviable heights he has always achieved.”

“While we congratulate Kyari, the Board, Management, and staff of the NNPCL, we plead with Nigerians and security agencies to support the Kyari-led NNPCL in achieving the target of 2 million barrels per day crude oil production by the end of the year,” he added.