NNPC Saga : Seeds Of Discord Allegedly Sowed By Buhari



The Oasis Reporters
October 11, 2017

Investigative analysis of the discord between the Minister of state for Petroleum Resources, Dr Kachikwu Ibe and the NNPC Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Bello indicate that President Muhammadu Buhari’s acts of omission and commission may have been the cause of the NNPC scandal.
The president was said to have been dealing with Baru at the expense of Kachikwu.
Femi Falana, a notable Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, said that he and other notable Nigerians urged Buhari not to make himself minister of Petroleum.
The Oasis Reporters had obtained a memo leaked last week of Kachikwu reporting to Buhari about Baru’s insufferable conducts, which ranged from unilateral award of contracts to insubordination.
In that August 30 memo which was leaked last Tuesday, October 3, Kachikwu said the contracts were up to $25 billion, or N9 trillion, and that they were allegedly awarded by Baru without recourse to the NNPC Board which he, Kachikwu, was appointed to head by Buhari.
On Monday, October 9, Baru fired back, dismissing Kachikwu as having no authority over the affairs of NNPC with regards to contracting regulations.
Baru also denied approving all the contracts Kachikwu listed in his memo, as well as any form of sharp practices.
Tracing the genesis and piecing the details already provided by the warring sides indicate that Buhari might have caused the problem to begin with.
The crisis started in July 2016 when Buhari removed Kachikwu as the GMD of NNPC and replaced him with Baru. Kachikwu was first appointed as GMD of NNPC in August 2015.
In November 2015, Buhari appointed Kachikwu as minister of state for petroleum resources. He served as NNPC GMD and minister until Buhari relieved him of the NNPC job.
When Buhari named Baru the GMD, he made Kachikwu the chairman of the NNPC board.
The NNPC Act designates the board to oversee the affairs of the state-owned oil giant.
The Act states that the minister of petroleum must be the chairman of the NNPC board. Buhari is the substantive minister of petroleum. But he is allowed by the NNPC law to delegate powers, including chairmanship of the board.
However, the law also allows Buhari to act concurrently as the chairman of NNPC board even while the appointment of the person he delegated powers to is still valid.
‘’The affairs of the Corporation shall, subject to Part II of this Act, be conducted by a Board of Directors of the Corporation which shall consist of a Chairman…
“The Chairman shall be a minister in the Government of the Federation to be known and styled as the Minister of Petroleum Resources… (1979 No. 44)
“There may be appointed by the President an Alternate Chairman who may, pursuant to any general or special delegation given in that behalf by the Minister exercise the powers conferred upon the Minister or Chairman under this Act: Provided that nothing in the foregoing shall be construed as preventing the exercise by the Minister himself of any power so delegated.’’
In other words, even when the minister of petroleum (Buhari) delegates his power as board chairman to someone else (Kachikwu), the former can still continue to play his role as board chairman.
This appears to be the root of the ongoing crisis.
Based on the statements by Messrs. Kachikwu and Baru, as well as inside information obtained by Premium Times, an online medium, Buhari was dealing with Baru without regards for Kachikwu, the person he had delegated powers to.
This was confirmed by Baru in his statement on Monday. The NNPC chief said he received approval from the president, and Kachikwu had no role to play in NNPC’s affairs.
In his memo to Buhari, Kachikwu stated that when Buhari was unwell in London for several months between May and August, Baru tried to get direct approval from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo — who was acting president at the time — for some personnel changes at the NNPC.
But Osinbajo asked Baru to go back to Kachikwu and get his input and approval first before making the changes.
Baru refused to consult Kachikwu on that.
For weeks, the changes were not made, until Buhari returned on August 19. By August 29, Baru announced the changes.
This prompted Kachikwu’s letter to the president on August 30, complaining that he learnt of the development in the media.
Sources at the presidency corroborated Kachikwu’s claim that Osinbajo rebuffed Baru’s attempts to get presidential approval behind Kachikwu.
Neither the vice president’s office nor Baru also denied that claim by Kachikwu.
In other words, while the vice president, a law professor, saw the need for the NNPC board and its chairman to be consulted before such crucial decisions are made, the president did not.
Buhari’s role in the crisis was also highlighted by Daily Trust newspaper in its editorial on Sunday. The paper raised several questions about the clash between Messrs. Kachikwu and Baru and observed that the president is responsible for the crisis.
“The question that must be answered is, did the president approve either the staff changes or the contract awards or both knowing full well that the board did not see them, or was he misled on the issue? If he approved them, was he advised on the correct procedure, assuming what Kachikwu said is correct?
“After all, Buhari himself constituted the NNPC board so there is no reason why he should sideline it or usurp its powers. On the other hand, if it is found that Kachikwu’s allegations against the GMD or the president’s aides are not true, then he has no business continuing to be in the cabinet.
“Baru too became NNPC’s GMD with a reputation for ability, experience and uprightness so judgements should be suspended until the full facts are in.
“We believe that this unbelievable level of bad blood, rivalry and blatant non-cooperation between the top heads of the oil industry was partly due to the clumsy leadership arrangement instituted by the Buhari administration in the last two years,” the national daily said.
The paper advised the president to relinquish his position as the substantive minister of petroleum; a view also shared by the human rights lawyer, Femi Falana.
“Back in 2015 we urged Buhari not to make himself minister of petroleum.
“Even though it is his prerogative to do so, he needs not hold on to a post that he held nearly 40 years ago. If he had found a capable and trustworthy person and entrusted him or her with the full powers, the minister might have been able to exercise full supervision over NNPC.
“Kachikwu, who was brought in from the private sector, was initially touted as that magic player. If he is not, it is not too late to find the right person,” the paper said.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has called for sanity in the embarrassing public debacle between minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu and Maikanti Baru, the group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.
As the substantive minister of Petroleum Resources, he has promised to look into the matter and possibly settle the rift between his two subordinates.
Will he relinquish the oily position and face strictly his job as an elected president?
Or would he rather fire Kachikwu Ibe and hush the scandal up?
At this point, no one can really say, but knowing the penchant of former military rulers to plot coups for the love of controlling the oil wealth while abandoning other important sectors, fingers remain crossed.
Generals Babangida, Abacha and Abdulsalami all kept tight grips on oily matters from allocating oil blocs to themselves, family and friends, to gathering Petroleum proceeds.
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a former military ruler like Buhari now is, suddenly had a rebirth and went straight for the jugular of the oil ministry by making himself Petroleum minister, a trend President Muhammadu Buhari has copied line by line.
The only Nigerian president who was relaxed about Petroleum issues was Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Despite unfair accusations against his person, he neither awarded an oil bloc to himself nor to anybody and he always made technocrats from other regions, NNPC GMDs. He was not nepotistic to keep the “goldmine of corruption” to his region. Yet he is from the oil-rich Niger Delta. The media was used to make sure that he lost his reelection bid over unproven allegations of corruption.
Premium Times
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