ABUJA – Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, has sent packing, more top employees of the Corporation including the heads of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company. Also retired is the head of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company.
This is even as the president of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr. Francis Johnson, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to put a stop to political interference in the operations and activities of the NNPC as part of his ongoing reforms in the country’s Oil and Gas industry.
Sources volunteered that about 28 top personnel at the NNPC and its subsidiaries were retired while some others were either elevated or redeployed or hired from the private sector to fill the vacancies.
Some of those affected in the long awaited shake-up at the NNPC included General Manager (GM) Commercial, GM NNPC Retail, GM Sales and Marketing NNPC Retail, GM Operations NNPC.
Some of the new replacements we further gathered, included Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue (MD PPMC), Inuwa Ibrahim Waya (MD Hyson), Mr. Babatunde Bakare (MD, NGC), Abubakar Mai-Bornu (MD, NPDC), Abdulkadir Saidu (MD, Duke Oil), Babatunde Victor Adeniran (GED C&I); Chidi Momah (GGM, Company Secretary and Legal Advisor) and Dafe Sejebor (GGM NAPIMS).
Other appointments according to our sources included: Dr. Maikanti Baru (GED, E&P), Isiaka Abdulrazak (GED Finance & Services), Denis Ajulu (GED, Refining & Technology), Chinedu Nzeribe (MD, WRPC), Yusuf Matashi (GGM, LNG), Mr. Modupe Bammeke (MD, NNPC Properties), Ladi Fagbola (MD, NNPC Retail), Roland Ewubare (MD, IDSL), Ahmed Sambo (GGM, NNPC Oilfield Services), Zubair Aliyu (GGM, NNPC Capital), Godwin Okonkwo (GGM, Finance), Dalhatu Makama, (GGM, Shipping) and Samuel Ndukwe (GGM, Power).
As the country awaits soon announcement of the changes, PENGASSAN president, Mr. Johnson has drummed up the need for President Buhari to include stoppage of political interference in NNPC activities in his reform agenda.
Speaking at the Addax Petroleum Branch of PENGASSAN Triennial Delegates’ Conference in Abeokuta, Mr. Johnson noted that only this step would make the corporation efficient enough to compete favourably among its peers (such as the Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia, Petronas of Malaysia and Petrobras of Brazil) in the world.
He regretted that interference by political leaders was a major stumbling block to effective and efficient performance of the NNPC.
The Association national leader further noted that PENGASSAN’s subsisting concern about the Petroleum Industry Bill was that there was not enough transparency in the manner the past governments drove the process of the passage, stressing that if the PIB had been passed into law, the controversies surrounding the reforms of the sector would have been averted.
“Some of the challenges confronting the industry would have been resolved if the PIB was passed as the provisions of the bill cover some of the issues raised by the protagonists of the reforms. Now, nobody is mentioning the bill again.
The uncertainty of the bill is not comfortable to investors and stakeholders in the industry. The government should let us know what they intend to do about the bill and the process it will use to fast-track its passage into law.
We are very optimistic that the 8th National Assembly will ensure transparency by making public the content of the bill and give topmost priority to its passage in view of its importance to the overall stability and growth of the oil and gas industry from which the government’s revenue for the sustenance of the economy is derived”, he continued.
