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.
A statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by Dr Omar Ibrahim, Acting Group General Manager, NNPC Group Public Affairs Division, cited what it claimed to be a 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 reveals that the sensational headlines were mere inventions, noting that 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.
However, 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.