By Dr Ibrahim P. Usman
In a time when Nigeria faces crushing economic hardships, dwindling oil revenues, and an anxious citizenry struggling to make ends meet, revelations of the high-flying, opulent lifestyle of Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), have sparked outrage, disbelief, and a growing demand for accountability.
The recent special report outlining Mr. Ojulari’s pattern of reckless spending, absentee leadership, and outright disdain for the core responsibilities of his office paints a disturbing picture of leadership failure at the helm of Nigeria’s most strategic national asset.
At a moment when the NNPCL requires sober, visionary, and patriotic leadership to steer it through turbulent waters, the agency appears instead to be sabotaged from within. The EFCC’s decision to initiate an investigation into Mr. Ojulari’s activities is, therefore, not only welcome but vital. It is a courageous step toward preserving national integrity and ensuring that no public office is used as a conduit for personal excess.
From private jets and champagne-soaked weekends in Monaco to luxury birthday jamborees in Dubai, Ojulari’s actions demonstrate a gross misalignment with the suffering of the Nigerian people. This is not just about poor optics, it’s about a pattern of behavior that undermines national economic strategy, sabotages investor confidence, and derails efforts to reform the petroleum sector.
While the EFCC must be commended for stepping up, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must act decisively. Leadership is about direction, discipline, and accountability. Nigeria cannot afford a GCEO who refuses to visit refineries, ignores the Niger Delta, and treats a critical national corporation as his personal playground. This level of detachment and indulgence amounts to sabotage, not just of the NNPCL, but of the administration’s broader goals for energy reform, economic revitalization, and public trust.
The President has made repeated pledges to combat corruption, restore fiscal discipline, and reposition Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. These promises cannot co-exist with men like Bayo Ojulari in positions of power. The longer he remains in office, the deeper the damage to national institutions and the credibility of the Tinubu administration.
It is time for swift executive action.
The NNPC is too important to Nigeria’s economic lifeblood to be entrusted to incompetence and greed. The President must move now, not tomorrow to restore confidence in the NNPCL, reaffirm his administration’s anti-corruption stance, and send a strong message that no one is above the interest of the Nigerian people.
EFCC, thank you for taking the first step. Now, Mr. President, it is time to do the right thing. Save NNPC. Remove Ojulari. Restore Nigeria.
Dr Usman, a political commentator writes in from Kaduna
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