The Nigeria First Initiative (NFI) has urged President Bola Tinubu to disregard what it described as “sponsored protests” calling for the removal of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Bayo Ojulari.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, NFI’s Executive Secretary, Nelson Okpanachi Idoko, alleged that the demonstrations were orchestrated by opposition figures working with a handful of disgruntled insiders at NNPCL to blackmail the administration and derail ongoing reforms.

Recall that a group under the banner of Niger Delta Youths had staged a protest at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, accusing Ojulari of corruption and demanding that a Niger Deltan be appointed to head the company.

But NFI dismissed the demonstration, describing the protesters as “a rented crowd of jobless youths from Abuja suburbs” with no link to the Niger Delta region.

“Nigeria is a federation. No section can dictate to the President who he must appoint. Branding this protest as a Niger Delta initiative is nothing but an attempt to stir ethnic sentiments and embarrass the government,” Idoko stated.

He further argued that the timing of the protest was calculated to overshadow NNPCL’s recent milestone of nearly hitting 100 per cent of its OPEC quota allocation — an achievement not recorded in decades.

According to him, “the plot was also staged to distract from President Tinubu’s investment drive in Brazil and undermine his message that Nigeria is now an attractive investment destination.”

NFI also alleged that documents in its possession show plans to target other strategic federal agencies over the next six months as part of a broader campaign to discredit the government’s reforms.

The group, therefore, urged President Tinubu to remain focused while taking decisive action against the alleged sponsors.

“We call on the President to fish out enemies within who benefit from government while working with the opposition to bring it down,” Idoko added.