From Joseph Obukata, Warri
The group, Centre for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade (CHURAC), has warned a faceless group, ‘Niger Delta Youths and Stakeholders Congress’ to refrain from ‘politically motivated’ smear campaign against the Executive Vice President of the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Tombomieye Adokiye over alleged oil facilities sabotage.
CHURAC, in a statement made available to newsmen in Warri on Saturday by its Board of Trustee’s Chairman, Cleric Ebikonbowei Alaowei, Esq., said the faceless group being sponsored by some vested interest coveting the office of Mr. Adokiye, especially his soon-to-be promoted office, kept raising unsubstantiated allegations of oil theft sabotage against Adokiye to the anti-graft commission.
The said faceless group had in a petition dated January 28, 2022 addressed to the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, which was recently published in an online medium, alleged that Adokiye was deliberately sabotaging the economy of Nigeria through alleged sponsorship of crude oil bunkering and theft and deliberately excluded core Niger Delta youths and other stakeholders from all NNPC concessional empowerment in the upstream subsidiaries.
They, also alleged that Adokiye was plotting to incite, instigate a mega protests and crisis in the Niger Delta region to create negotiation for his emergence as Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, claiming that they were being punished by Adokiye for their continuous and over bearing support for the federal government amongst other unlawful activities with evidence capable of creating breakdown of peace in the Niger Delta.
But CHURAC, in a press release, said that the allegations smack of sheer blackmail, describing the seething attack as handiwork of stomach hustlers and mischievous fifth columnists.
The human rights group, however, warned the said group to refrain from being used as pawn to rubbish the hard-earned reputation of the only Niger Deltans holding such sensitive office in NNPCL, urging the EFCC to keep ignoring the purported petition by the group to shame those behind the blackmailers.
The statement reads: “The allegations of oil facilities sabotage levelled against the Executive Vice President of the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Tombomieye Adokiye by one faceless group of stomach hustlers are the handiwork of some vested interest coveting the office of Mr. Adokiye, especially his soon-to-be promoted office.
“Some vested interest and born-to-rule crusaders are the ones coveting the office of the only Niger Deltans holding such sensitive office. Hence, they recruited some willing tools to carry out smear campaigns against the man. The petition purportedly written to the EFCC by the Niger Delta Youths and Stakeholders Congress against Mr. Tombomieye Adokiye is a fallacy of ad baculum and thus, did not deserved the attention of the anti graft agency.
“We’re not surprised that the Commission has chosen not to respond to such cheap lies in the alleged petition, manufactured to achieve a primordial objective by their sponsors. We advise the said Group to engage itself in meaningful ventures instead of being used as a pawn in the chessboard. It is appalling that people can just manufactured cheap and unfiltered lies against an innocent man just because they’re eyeing his office.
“We warn enemies of progress to refrain from their nefarious activities. Nigeria belongs to all of us. We know the brains behind the uncouth and incendiary attacks on Mr. Adokiye. The man should be allowed to carry out his corporate responsibilities without let or hindrance. Even when the NNPCL management board is being dominated by a section of the Country against the provisions of Federal Character Act to the resentment of the Niger Delta people, the region did not incite people to haul attack on the people who dominated the Board.
“Adokiye should be left alone to run the affairs of his office. The allegations levelled against him by that faceless group lacked all forms of merit. Only a myopic mind will buy into such incoherently pernicious lies”.