By Onogwu Muhammed —
There is a growing campaign of allegations against the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, which deserves to be tested against the law, institutional responsibilities and verifiable data rather than insinuation.
The latest claims by the self-styled Oil and Gas Professional Forum, including allegations that Ojulari influenced associates to secure an Oil Mining Lease (OML) and that NNPC has become unproductive, raise fundamental questions about whether the critics understand Nigeria’s post-Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) regulatory framework.
Under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the administration and award of petroleum prospecting licences and petroleum mining leases fall within the statutory mandate of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), subject to the provisions of the law.
Section 73 of the PIA further provides that petroleum prospecting licences and petroleum mining leases shall be granted through a fair, transparent and competitive bidding process in accordance with the Act, relevant regulations and licensing-round guidelines issued by the Commission.
NNPCL, by contrast, operates as Nigeria’s national oil company with a distinct commercial mandate.
Conflating NUPRC’s regulatory responsibilities with NNPCL’s commercial functions therefore risks creating a misleading impression about how petroleum licensing operates under the PIA.
Public officials and institutions should undoubtedly be subjected to rigorous scrutiny, but such scrutiny must be based on facts, evidence and the actual legal framework governing the sector.
Production figures tell a different story
The claim that NNPCL under Ojulari has been unproductive is also difficult to reconcile with available production figures.
Average crude oil production, including condensates, rose from approximately 1.60 million barrels per day in April 2025 to 1.67 million barrels per day in April 2026, an increase of about 70,000 barrels per day.
