The Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari, has called for closer collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), on the protection of NNPC’s critical assets.
Kyari made the call on Thursday when he led his Management Team, on a courtesy visit to the office of Director General of the Department of State Services, Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi, to deepen existing interagency relations between the two Organisations.
During the visit, the NNPC GMD stated that the Corporation has, in recent times, faced some challenges of National Security significance.
He identified these to include the loss of revenue from product stealing, deliberate damage to product pipelines, cross border smuggling of petroleum products and long indebtedness to the Corporation by persons and corporate bodies that have reneged on business agreements relating to product allocation.
Kyari lamented the impact of these on revenue generation of the country, as he expressed concern that dwindling revenues affect Government’s ability to realise its objectives.
Consequently, he sought the assistance of the Service in containing the threats as well as recovering the debts in line with its mandate of protecting the nation against economic sabotage.
Speaking further, the GMD identified the Service as a strategic stakeholder in Nigeria’s National Security management, and enjoined it to continue to protect NNPC’s critical assets for the good of the nation.
In his remarks, the Director General of the DSS, Alhaji Bichi, affirmed that the DSS is actually a frontline partner of the NNPC, and pledged the support of the Service to the Corporation.
He also emphasized the need for the protection of the nation’s economy, to enable the Government to continue to perform its fundamental objective role of ensuring the security and welfare of citizens as enshrined in the Constitution.
Considering the important role of the NNPC in the economy of the nation, the DG charged it to take advantage of the visit to consolidate its collaboration with the Service.
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