The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) on Friday raised an alarm on a smear campaign against the new management of the company.

The NNPCL in a communique accused a certain group of actively spreading lies and misinformation simply to discredit its leadership and derail the organisation’s ongoing transformation into a corruption-free, performance-driven energy company, in line with the mandate of President Bola Tinubu.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has uncovered an emerging coordinated sabotage campaign being waged by a syndicate of known and faceless actors, both outside and within various levels of the organisation,” the communique read in part.

“Their tactics include planting scandalous and fabricated reports, curated to distract the leadership, mislead the public, and undermine the commitment of our dedicated workforce and reform-minded Nigerians.”

The NNPCL said these are calculated efforts by those who feel threatened by reform, transparency, accountability, and change, a clear evidence of the lengths to which they will go to obstruct the transformation of Nigeria’s foremost energy institution.

The company said it expects a surge of defamatory content in the days and weeks ahead but it remains undeterred, adding that the transformation is underway, and no amount of sabotage will stop it.

“We urge our dedicated staff, stakeholders, and all patriotic Nigerians to stay focused, ignore the noise and not be discouraged. We remain on mission,” the NNPCL said.