A massive protest erupted in Abuja on Tuesday as over 5,000 Nigerians, under the banner of Concerned Citizens Against Corruption, took to the streets demanding the prosecution of Mele Kyari, the former CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The protesters marched to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, calling for an immediate investigation into NNPCL’s operations during Kyari’s five-year tenure.
Led by activist Kabir Matazu, the group accused Kyari of overseeing a system marked by secrecy and financial mismanagement—failures they say worsened Nigeria’s economic challenges.
“It is on record that the sack of the erstwhile corrupt leadership of the NNPCL drew applause from Nigerians.
But Nigerians are disenchanted that Mr. President has only stopped at removing the former leadership without taking steps to investigate how Kyari and his cabal bled this country dry,” said Matazu.
The protest focused particularly on the controversial rehabilitation of state-owned refineries. Protesters pointed to billions of dollars allegedly spent without any transparency. They also raised alarms over a shadowy debt deal with Matrix Energy Limited, which is reportedly owed more than $2 billion by NNPCL.
“What we are talking about here is a daily allocation of 80,000 barrels of crude oil to a non-state actor.
This deal was signed during Kyari’s administration, and it is being used to service a debt that Nigerians know nothing about,” Matazu stated.
The group demanded that the Attorney General launch a judicial review and push for a commission of inquiry into NNPCL’s refinery contracts and financial dealings under Kyari. They emphasized that investigating these deals is essential—not only to recover lost funds, but to hold public officials accountable now and in the future.
“If Nigeria must move forward, we must understand what went wrong, who is responsible, and how to prevent it from happening again,” Matazu said.
The protesters vowed to sustain their movement until the government takes decisive action.
