May 27, 2026
By Mohammed Abubakar
A respected voice has finally said the quiet part out loud. No more dancing around it. No more bureaucratic fog. Professor Okey Ikechukwu, Executive Director of the Development Specs Academy, sat for an interview on Arise News and delivered a prescription as blunt as a hammer. Suspend the Amukpe-Escravos pipeline sale process. Terminate it completely. Start over. His warning is simple. Proceeding on current terms means gifting away a vital national asset at a knockdown price. And the damage to governance and public trust will be neither small nor silent.
He is right. And the candour is a breath of fresh air in a room that has been stuffy for too long. What should be clear to everyone at this stage is that this is no longer a simple commercial matter which can be massaged back to life with a procedural sleight of hand. It has become a test. One of those quiet examinations Nigeria periodically faces. Can the country treat strategic assets with the seriousness they deserve? Or will old habits of convenience win again?
The facts, stripped of ornamentation, are troubling enough. A transaction formally terminated in October 2024 is showing remarkable powers of resurrection. Terminated after missed payments. After breached conditions. After creative attempts to shift major risks.
