Buhari sacks NNPC board

Firstclass newsline~Almost a month after he assumed office, President
Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved the Board of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation with immediate effect.
The announcement was made in a terse statement issued on Friday by the
Director of Communications in the Office of the Head of Civil Service
of the Federation, Alhaji Haruna Imrana, on behalf of the HoS, Mr.
Danladi Kifasi.
"The directive to that effect was conveyed in a letter signed on
Friday, by Kifasi. In it, the President thanked members of the
dissolved board for their services to the nation.
Following the victory of Buhari at the presidential election on March
28, there had been growing calls on the new government to tackle the
alleged corruption in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which
currently contributes over 80 per cent of the country's revenue.
Specifically, there had been calls from several quarters for the
reform of the NNPC, as the corporation had been described as one of
the world's most opaque national oil companies.
Prior to the dissolution, members of the board, according to the NNPC,
include the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Chair of the board); the
Group Managing Director, Dr. Joseph Dawha; the Group Executive
Director, Finance and Accounts, Mr. Bernard Otti; the Group Executive
Director, Corporate Services, Dr. Dan Efebo; Alhaji Abdullahi Bukar;
Mr. Danladi Wadzani; Prof. Olusegun Okunnu; Mr. Danladi Kifasi; Mr.
Steven Oronsanye, and Mr. Ikechukwu Oguine (Coordinator, Legal
Services/Secretary to the corporation).
The immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had in July 2012
reconstituted a new board of the NNPC, with the former Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, as the chairperson.
There has been speculation that Buhari will keep the Petroleum
minister portfolio for himself in his yet-to-be-announced cabinet
rather than trust anyone else with the ministry.
The immediate past President, International Association for Energy
Economics and Director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port
Harcourt, Prof. Wumi Iledare, had earlier this month urged the
president to immediately reconstitute the board of the NNPC and
professionalise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
He said, "In fact, he must, as a matter of urgency, reconstitute the
NNPC board with no political appointees and must put round pegs in
round holes in the corporation as mandated in the NNPC Act of 1977."
Iledare, who is also a Professor Emeritus at the Centre for Energy
Studies, Louisiana State University, United States, urged the
President to ensure that all the agencies in the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources are manned by competent hands with no political godfathers.
"He (Buhari) must professionalise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources
as soon as possible," Iledare said in The PUNCH report, headlined
'Reconstitute NNPC board now, experts urge Buhari'.
"I will be glad to recommend many qualified people to him."
Commenting on the dissolution of the board, the Head of Energy
Research, Ecobank, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said, "It's in line with our
expectations that his restructuring of the petroleum sector would
likely start at the NNPC. And I believe this is targeted at blocking
leakages in the system and improving transparency and accountability
at the NNPC.
"However, the absence of a cabinet or Petroleum Minister supports
popular belief that he might want to lead the sector himself," he
added.
Firstclassnewsline.net