In defence of honour: a rebuttal to campaigns of calumny against Mele Kyari

By Charles Ude, Esq.

In the theatre of public administration and corporate governance, integrity remains both a virtue and a shield. Mele Kyari, the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has stood as a technocrat who has redefined strategic management within Nigeria’s most critical national enterprise.

Regrettably, the more luminous the star, the more it attracts the slings and arrows of detractors. It is, therefore, both timely and necessary to address the orchestrated defamation, unfounded corruption allegations, and the increasingly desperate attempts to tarnish the reputation of a man who has served his country with diligence and transparency.

1. Rebutting the Allegations: Shadows Without Substance

The author, Charles Ude Esq.

Allegations of corruption leveled against Mr. Kyari are, upon scrutiny, devoid of evidentiary backing. These accusations amount to nothing more than castles in the air — unsubstantial and speculative at best.

Despite multiple layers of oversight, including internal audit structures, ministerial supervision, and international partners, not a single credible finding of financial impropriety has been ascribed to his person.

To impugn a public servant on the mere strength of anonymous insinuation is not only injurious but a miscarriage of justice in the court of public opinion.

Kyari’s stewardship at the NNPCL witnessed profound reforms, including the successful implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the commercialisation of the NNPC into a limited liability company, and the introduction of transparency and accountability frameworks such as the monthly publication of NNPCL’s financial and operational records.

A man who opens the books cannot be plausibly accused of hiding skeletons.

2. Rebuking the Media Onslaught and Sponsored Crusades

The wave of media attacks and demonstrative rallies against Mr. Kyari is no spontaneous public outcry — it bears the fingerprints of coordination and inducement. These are acts of puppeteers hiding behind veils of activism to undermine a man who has stepped on vested interests in the oil cabals and rent-seeking establishment.

It is a time-worn strategy: manufacture outrage, amplify it through paid media channels, and create the illusion of popular dissent. But even a lie repeated a thousand times cannot transmute into truth.

The attempt to subject Mr. Kyari to a media lynching is not only intellectually dishonest but an affront to democratic norms and justice. The freedom of the press must not be weaponised into a licence for orchestrated slander.

3. A Challenge to the EFCC: Due Process or Mob Justice?

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must rise above the tempest of public pressure and distinguish between law enforcement and political theatre.

The rule of law is not beholden to the noise of the crowd. Should there be any legitimate basis for investigation, due process must be observed, evidence must be weighed, and justice must be blind — not bludgeoned by media trials or sponsored petitions.

Kyari has never evaded scrutiny and has expressed unwavering commitment to transparency. However, to hound a citizen with subpoenas and summons absent prima facie evidence is to convert the EFCC from a constitutional watchdog into a pawn of vendettas.

4. Safeguarding Fundamental Rights and the Presumption of Innocence

In a democracy governed by the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the fundamental rights of every citizen — including the right to dignity, liberty, and fair hearing — are sacrosanct.

Mele Kyari, like all citizens, is cloaked in the constitutional presumption of innocence. Any attempt to circumvent this principle through public shaming, coerced testimonies, or denial of procedural safeguards is tantamount to extrajudicial persecution.

Justice is not justice unless it is both seen and done in accordance with the law. Witch hunts have no place in civilised society, and public institutions must not serve as tools for vendetta or ideological purges.

5. A Life of Service and the Winds of Reform

It bears reminding that Kyari’s legacy at the helm of NNPCL is replete with reforms long deemed impossible. He brought sunlight into the darkest recesses of Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

His tenure oversaw joint venture restructuring, upstream investment revival, and the revamping of refineries — all in an industry where inertia had long been the norm.

To disparage such a record is not only unfair but injurious to the nation’s institutional memory. When reformers are hounded and smeared, what message is sent to the next generation of patriots? That to serve is to be sacrificed at the altar of envy and sabotage?

Conclusion: Let the Truth Prevail

Mele Kyari has weathered storms greater than whispers and walked through fires fiercer than fiction. In the fullness of time, truth will out.

But until then, let the nation be guided by law, not hysteria, by evidence, not innuendo. Let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater in our national discourse.

To accuse without proof is to murder reputation by a thousand cuts. But justice, though it may tarry, has a long memory and a steady hand.

Charles Ude Esq. is an Abuja-based legal practitioner and public opinion analyst. He can be reached via charlesude2014@gmail.com.

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