Tinubu suspended Mele Kyari as NNPC GCEO? Presidency source reacts

Contrary to circulating speculations, presidency sources said there is no directive from President Bola Tinubu to suspend Mallam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC).

Sources within the Presidency, according to Nigerian Tribune, confirmed on Saturday night, June 10, that the President had not issued any such directive for Kyari's suspension.

Social media platforms were abuzz with numerous posts on Saturday evening, claiming that the President had ordered the immediate suspension of Kyari as the NNPC GCEO.

These posts gained significant attention, particularly because they surfaced just 24 hours after the Presidency announced the suspension of Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Nevertheless, multiple sources within the Presidency revealed that there are no plans to suspend Kyari from his position as the GCEO of the NNPC.

One of the sources was quoted as saying:

“We got to know about the purported suspension through social media posts. But I can confirm to you that there is no such directive coming from the President. Nigerians are known to play a lot with trends and someone may just have sat down somewhere to make such posts.

“There is no iota of truth in that post claiming that the President has suspended the NNPC GCEO. There is nothing to be worried about because the Petroleum Industry Act is clear on how the NNPC GCEO or any member of the NNPC Board could be removed.”

Similarly, an aide to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) was also cited as saying that the president had not directed the SGF to effect Kyari's suspension.

“Please disregard those reports because they are fake news. We don’t have such directive from the President to suspend Kyari,” the aide reportedly said.

The unnamed aide added that the Presidency would not dignify rumour mongers with an official response.