A coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria has strongly condemned the impersonation of their groups and the submission of false information to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, and the Chief Executive Officer of Matrix Energy Group, Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu.
The leaders of these NGOs spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, where they addressed the petition which was recently submitted by a group which called itself “The Concerned Citizens on Economic Reform Nigeria”, and signed by individuals identified as Tijani Ibrahim and Amb. Fatima Abubakar.
According to the Coalition, the group, in their petition to the US Treasury, had falsely claimed to represent multiple established Nigerian NGOs and accused Kyari and Aliu of violating international regulations.
The NGOs however, categorically denied any affiliation with the individuals or the allegations made in the petition.
They urged the U.S. Department of the Treasury to dismiss the “baseless petition” and to protect their long-standing reputation in a statement released at the event and signed by Splendour Agbonkpolor, Convener of the Initiative for Leadership and Economic Watch; Chief Dominic Ogakwu, Convener of the Civil Society Group for Good Governance; Jacob Okpanachi, Convener of the Social, Political, Economic, Educational, and Environmental Rights Initiative (SPEEERI); and Victor Itsede, Convener of the Restore Nigeria Initiative.
The group also announced its intention to formally inform OFAC about the fraudulent submission and reiterated their commitment to transparency and integrity in their advocacy efforts.
“As NGOs, we do not subscribe to blackmail of the NNPCL GCEO, Mele Kyari and the CEO of Matrix Energy, Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu and will not sit back and watch people impersonate organisations we have built credibly for years in order to make us look like enemies of a well-meaning Nigeria state. Anyone who has an axe to grind with NNPCL and its management as well as the Matrix Energy Group should be bold to use their registered NGO as well as address and not ours. The United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) should disregard the petition submitted by the impersonators as it’s not authored by any of us who are former occupants of the address in the non-existing NGO.
“We find it distasteful to be used by any group of persons or companies fighting for their own interests, and will be proceeding to submit a letter of of withdrawal to the U.S. Departinent of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) through its United States, Embassy in Abuja on this issue that is almost eroding our integrity, credibility and reputation,” the statement added.