The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kachikwu

  • Oil contracts: Kachikwu urges banks to minimise risk

    Oil contracts: Kachikwu urges banks to minimise risk

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has warned banks and other financial institutions to thoroughly scrutinise every oil contracts before extending any line of credits to contractors in order to curtail the incidence of bad loans.

    He spoke in Lagos yesterday, where he delivered the keynote address at the Institute of Credit Administration (ICA)’s National Credit Managers Conference/Nigeria Credit Industry Awards 2017.

    While giving a ministerial review of credit management in the nation’s oil and gas sector, the minister observed that the credit management performance of the sector over the years has been noteworthy with numerous projects in the petroleum value chain attaining completion without incidents of liquidity issues.

    He was however quick to add that in order to improve the credit management performance in the sector, “The entire value chain from due diligence of the borrower to credit funding, credit utilisation, and repayment must be analysed in detail.”

    The minister who was represented by Dr. Adetunji Oyebanji, Chairman/Managing Director, Mobil Nigeria Plc, said financial institutions need to attain higher standards in terms of capacity and capital base.

    Specifically, he said: “For oil and gas projects, I advise that lenders interact with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as part of their due diligence before funding credit requests from borrowers. We have ensured our regulating agencies, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) implement due diligence measures on new investors desiring to invest in oil and gas projects such as the building of new refineries, etc.”

    He further advised that “There should also exist effective monitoring of the borrower’s activities. This allows for credit defaulting to be anticipated earlier. In such a situation where credit defaulting is anticipated, mitigating measures could then be deployed to prevent credit mismanagement.”

    The minister, who also received the prestigious Oil and Gas Industry Growth Driver of the Year award from ICA, also emphasised the role of insurance companies in recovery in a situation where there is absolute mismanagement of credit.

    Speaking earlier, Registrar/CEO, ICA, Prof. Chris Onalo in his remarks impressed on credit professionals the need to raise the bar in terms of competence and performance, stressing that they remain major drivers of a successful credit economy, which is the hall mark of a virile society.

  • Kachikwu: Still waiting for Mr. President

    Mum is still largely the word from the presidency over the issues raised in the leaked letter by Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr.  Ibe  Kachikwu.

    But for the reference to the approval he gave for financing arrangements for the Joint Ventures between the corporation and the IOCs as contract and not loans, there would still not have been any official statement on the controversial issue.

    Instead of clearly stating its position on the complaints of the minister bordering on disregard for due process by the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, on appointments and contractual agreements, the presidency seems to prefer speaking through faceless sources.

    Supporters of the minister and the NNPC have been having a field day making claims and counter claims on who should approve what while the presidency leaves Nigerians confused as if the officials involved are not answerable to any authority.

    Instead of playing dumb on the matter and allowing the theatre of the absurd and shame to continue to play out, the presidency has to speak up and clear whatever confusion it has caused. This should not be a matter of two fighting while those who should separate or penalise them watch.

    The real loser in this matter is the presidency whose claim to abiding by due process unlike the government it took over from is being questioned. Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see how the issue will be handled to make up their mind on what they should believe about the Buhari government.

    There is a sense in which the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari who is the Minister of Petroleum is being seen as total disregard for the public that he owes an explanation on how our crucial oil sector is being managed.

    If indeed President Buhari is truly in charge of the Petroleum Ministry, which he could have assigned to a competent hand to handle, it should not have taken this long for him to confirm or deny the claims made by Kachickwu and Baru.

    If Baru got permission from the president in accordance with the law guiding the operations of the oil sector to do some of the things he has been accused of doing without the approval of the Board, so be it. We need to know who is saying the truth and who is not.

    If he did not and he is guilty of what the minister has accused him of, he should not be treated as a sacred cow. The open altercation between the two top government officials managing a critical sector of our economy is not good for the image of the country.

    Foreign investors must be following the controversy with keen interest and everything must be done to resolve the issue on the side of truth and transparency.

    Like I noted last week, the matter would not have degenerated to this ugly level if the minister’s memo has been given the urgent attention it deserved and has been allowed to meet with the president who is supposed to be the supervising minister for petroleum.

    Like in the issue of the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, and Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Dr Ayodele Oke  silence is not golden.

  • Kachikwu: What’s his job as Minister of State?

    Kachikwu: What’s his job as Minister of State?

    It seems very realistic to say that without realising it, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu was promoted into oblivion the day he became a Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. If we are to go by the response of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, to the allegations of insubordination and brazen abuse of due process in contract awards running into billions of dollars made against him by the Kachikwu, we would not be wrong to conclude that it is high time the government scrapped the office of Minister of State. From the look of things, ministers of state have become mere burdensome baggage. In short, they exist merely to fulfill constitutional requirements of having ministers from all states of the federation. Outside that, anyone who goes by that appendage is a loafer in office, a figurehead without specific duties or scintilla of authority whatsoever. Their occasional meddlesomeness notwithstanding, they are, like the state deputy governors-unserviceable spare tyres whose relevance or otherwise rests squarely at the whim of the President.

    In saner climes, there is nothing wrong with a President assigning responsibilities to his aides as he deemed fit. But in a country with a voracious appetite for official and brutal violation of the letters of the law, the Baru/Kachikwu feud has thrown to the front burner, the need to revisit the jaded phrases in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which, in a sense, gives room for the ludicrous defence that Baru tendered with brash arrogance, justifying why he sidetracked a duly appointed senior cabinet member in the discharge of his responsibilities.

    Let’s be clear about one thing, the idea of a Minister of State is unknown to our constitution. If you ask me, I think it should be discarded for obvious redundancy. Beyond dancing round the issues, Baru’s impudence stems from his understanding that President Muhammadu Buhari is the de-facto minister in that sector and he has no obligation whatsoever toward those that are loosely referred to as junior ministers. Specifically, Section 148 of our Constitution highlighted the duties and responsibilities of the 36 ministers representing the states and one to represent the Federal Capital Territory. It states: “(1) The President may, in his discretion, assign to the Vice-President or any Minister of the Government of the Federation responsibility for any business of the Government of the ration, including the administration of any department of government. (2) The President shall hold regular meetings with the Vice-President and all the Ministers of the Government of the Federation for the purposes of (a) determining the general direction of domestic and foreign policies of the Government of the Federation;  (b) coordinating  the activities of the President, the Vice President and the Ministers of the Government of the Federation and the discharge of their executive responsibilities; and (c) advising the President generally in the discharge of his executive functions other than those functions with respect to which he is required by this Constitution to seek the advice or act on the recommendation of any other person or body.”

    Some have said Buhari’s thunderous silence has not helped matters. I agree but we have come to a stage where we have to look beyond the technical maneuverings of Baru from the tight corner he has found himself unless we want to believe that the NNPC Board, which Kachikwu heads on the strength of his appointment as Chairman, is a toothless dog without any real oversight function over Baru’s hand-picked Tenders Board. Even at that, how on earth could a government that came to power with a promise to change the ways things were being done in the past tolerate a clear violation of simple process by the GMD of NNPC who announced that once he sought and got a presidential approval to proceed with contractual drafts, the inputs or opinion of others never mattered? That was the thrust of his defence and I was shocked beyond words that some persons think that should be the point at which we should pour cold water on the ‘irrelevant memo” written by a “treacherous” Kachikwu who was ‘beefing’ because he was not to ‘benefit’ from the deals. How petty can we be as a people?

    Baru’s response, in my own understanding, actually justified Kachikwu’s summation of a “bravado management style” being run by the NNPC head which, in all honesty, smacked of abuse of the fine principles of corporate governance.. To the best of my knowledge, there was not one single report in the media which suggested that President Buhari, as the substantive Minister for Petroleum Resources, submitted memos for the approval of the various contracts listed by Baru. If that was the case, do we then take it that the President and the GMD of NNPC in cahoots with some nameless cabal, have formed a conclave of contract-approving body for the oil giant without the contribution of cabinet members? Is that the new way of engendering corporate governance, accountability, competitiveness and ethical standards in a sector that is known for corrosive corruption and rot?

    At this juncture, one question comes to mind: when Buhari ‘elevated’ Kachikwu to the position of Minister of State following his short stay as GMD of NNPC, what responsibilities, in his grey-haired discretion, did he assign to him in line with the spirit and letters of the Nigerian Constitution as quoted above? In case he has forgotten, a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, announcing Kachikwu as the Chairman of the 9-member NNPC Board charged them to ensure a successful delivery of their mandate and “serve the nation by upholding the public trust placed in them in managing this critical national asset.” Well, can we say this critical asset is being well managed for the good of all if a key member of that same board feels he doesn’t need the input from his chairman, or other member for that matter, in decision making as long as he gets the express approval of a President who had burdened himself with an additional responsibility of Minister of Petroleum Resources even if it is not known to our laws?

    Don’t get it wrong, no one is saying that billions of dollars is missing or that Baru is working with some cabal to milk the nation dry. No. We are concerned with the possibility of the abuse of unrestrained power. There is an ample proof of that with the dismissiveness with which the NNPC attempted to puncture the controversial memo which was leaked to the media last week. Like I once noted, it should bother us that the Chairman of the NNPC Board couldn’t secure an audience with his principal while his subordinate regularly takes files to the same man to get speedy approval with or without the input of the Board. Come to think of it, could it be that Baru was one of those privileged Nigerians who frequently fly to London to discuss official matters with an ailing President even when he had properly empowered an Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to take charge? Could it be true that he equally disregarded a piece of advice by Osinbajo that he must liaise with Kachikwu before tendering any contract papers for presidential assent? Didn’t Mr. Baru see anything wrong in final approval lying with a so-called Tender’s Board which he also chairs? And how tenable is his argument that all the NNPC Board does statutorily is advisory and nothing more?

    Personally, it matters less whether Baru and Kachikwu have been reunited with the firm handshake and plastic smiles they shared earlier in the week at the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja. Unnerving as the presidential silence is, it does not vitiate the fact that something is terribly wrong with the way the nation’s oil industry is being run. So far, the revelations show that we are yet to wean ourselves of the deliberate act of sabotage of the past in which key players in that sector pillaged truckloads of dollars in billions. With the inception of the Buhari administration, we thought it’s a new beginning of righting the wrongs. We all thought the new Sheriff has come to clear the mess and place the nation on a better pedestal in a competitive world. Now that we are hearing that the expertise of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has been reduced to that of a regular newspaper reader who normally encounters issues of policies, contractual process and appointments made under his ministry on the pages of newspapers, we cannot help but wonder if the status of a minister of state is not the same as the ingenuity that goes into the creation of the post of Minister without portfolio. Is that why Kachikwu’s appointment was celebrated with pomp and aplomb? To take his seat and bury his eyes in the pages of newspapers while the real work is being handled by the conclave of Buhari’s hatchet men? Who cares about transparency in corporate governance when Baru’s ‘bravado management style” has taken us thus far anyway?

  • The women are winning

    The women are winning

    For long she kept quiet as her reputation suffered insufferable assault from those who ordinarily should protect her – even adore her. They mounted a massive campaign of calumny against her and everything that she stood for. They called her names, some of which I dare not report here for fear of being accused of hate speech and crass indecency.

    Without iron cast proof – or any proof at all, according to her legal counsel – she was accused of theft (of all offences; as if she is a common Lagos pickpocket); yes, theft, not stealing or corruption or misappropriation or misapplication or diversion as people of her status are often accused.

    Poor woman. Former First Lady Dame Patience Faka Jonathan went through a lot. Her patience apparently overstretched, she has come out to fight. She broke the ice with President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to rein in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its boss Ibrahim Magu.

    She accused Magu of planning to destroy her and her family in a statement signed by her Chief Press Secretary, Belema Meshack. Dame Patience believes she is being “persecuted because of her unflinching support for her husband during the 2015 elections.”

    “President Buhari should be reminded that his wife also supported him in all the elections he contested against her husband, former President Jonathan, but Dr Jonathan did not at any point in time carry out personal vendetta or go after Buhar’s wife,” she said in an emotional tone.

    Dame Patience said Michelle Obama campaigned vigorously for her husband, “but we are yet to see President Donald Trump move against her.”

    Good logic. Instead of praising her courage, those disgruntled fellows to whom the pursuit of any noble cause is an opportunity to exhibit their frustration, descended on the former First Lady. All the fine points she made in her defence against the accusation of theft, which the EFCC hurled at her, made no sense to them.

    If her mother willed to her the billions –in local and hard currency – she claims to own legitimately, what did the old woman do to earn such a fortune? Was she also a first lady? How much does a permanent secretary earn in Bayelsa State? Could her pay have got her the N6b property just discovered in Abuja? She said some of the cash came from her ice cream trade; is she Unilever?

    The inquisition went on and on. Even Imelda Marcos, in all her excesses, was not this relentlessly pilloried. When shall we begin to respect our dearest ones? Now all that must stop. Buhari will call Magu and his men to order and the Dame will go in peace to enjoy the life of bliss she has so hard to prepare for.

    Indeed, feminists are winning. Their campaign about women’s rights seems to be working, going by the events of the last few days.

    After a long silence, First Lady Aisha Buhari has launched a scurrilous criticism on our healthcare services, dismissing them as poor. She specifically cited the State House Clinic that attracts huge budgetary allocations yearly as lacking basic facilities. The x-ray machine has broken down. There are no syringes, but buildings are being erected, she said.

    I wonder why the President’s wife would expect any official worthy of his Villa access card to pay attention to syringes, plasters, cotton wool and such imperceptible items . They are bought with peanuts. All eyes are on the big projects in which billions are sunk, understandably so.  We need such buildings to keep those equipment Mrs Buhari spoke of. Besides, when the time comes to account for the funds received by the clinic, no serious auditor will be talking about syringes, plasters and such trivial details that cost some millions.

    Besides, is the clinic really meant for the First Family? The Villa is a big community – of gardeners, body guards, drivers, cleaners, stewards, clerks and others, including domestic animals.

    Before Mrs Buhari vented her anger, Her daughter Zahra had asked the clinic’s management to justify its N3b allocation. The query is yet to be answered. The Zahra query reminds the attentive audience of a former minister of Works who was asked by the Senate to justify the ministry’s  N300b allocation in the face of the near collapse of all major roads.  Chief Tony ‘the Fixer’ Anenih simply told the lawmakers to get educated; allocation is different from release, he said. That was the end of the matter.So, dear first daughter, there you have it.

    Just like Dame Patience, former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has suffered untold verbal assaults from people who could never have been qualified to know even a little about her lifestyle. They said she stole  N47.2b and $487.5m, bribed INEC officials with N362m to rig the 2015 election, bought choice property in Dubai and other cities of note and travelled the world in private jets.

    With remarkable stoicism, she bore it all – insults, lies and abuses. Perhaps  buoyed by the new wave of women activism, Mrs Alison-Madueke has told a court to order that she be allowed to defend herself in one of those numerous cases filed against her associates.

    Since she made that bold move, some cynical fellows who will never fight for their own rights let alone stand up for others, have been calling her names. She is shameless. Shouldn’t greed have a limit, even by her standards? Why will she not just stay in Britain, go through her trial quietly and stroll into jail or freedom? They did not spare her?

    Not to be outdone in the game, the Federal Government through Attorney General Abubakar Malami announced that Mrs Alison-Madueke would not be  allowed to return now.

    That is unfair. Why won’t they admire the former Minister’s courage – that she is threatening to return home and clear her good name? How many of those who have been indicted of looting the treasury are willing to return home?

    Let us spare a thought for women of courage. With so many weak men at the helm of affairs now, who knows, our salvation may well lie in their delicate hands.

    Until he brought in the women angle, nobody listened to Senator Isah Hamman Misau ( Bauchi Central). He accused Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris of corruption on a scale beyond imagination. He challenged the anti-corruption agencies to move in. The police fired back. They accused the senator  of being a deserter and threatened to make him account for his unpatriotic action.

    All was quiet. We all thought the matter had been settled in the usual way when big boys fight. Suddenly, Misau showed up in the Senate and accused the police chief of putting an officer in the family way and marrying her to cover up the misdemeanor. That was expolosive or salacious enough for the Senate to set up a high powered committee of members who have been distinguished in such oversight duties to probe Misau’s allegations.

    Now, Idris will have to face the Senate – in uniform – to explain how it all happened. Was it consensual or forced? Who started it all? Was it a case of seduction?  Who seduced who? Are police officers allowed to think about matters of concupiscence while on their delicate duty? In other words, are officers allowed to display their soft side while on duty? Is conjugal disloyalty a reflection of professional laxity? How soft is a police chief’s heart in matters of affection?

    Like a bolt from the blues, allegations of  levelling “injurious falsehood” against the IG have hit Misau. The hunter is now the hunted. Nigeria we hail thee.

    Whichever way it goes, our women should be happy. They are winning.

     

    Ala – Baru versus I- Kachikwu

    The barber shop crowd  – of analysts, emergency experts and loafers – was there again on Saturday. With Papi D presiding, as usual, it was a visitor’s delight.

    A young man fires the first question of the day.

    “Sir, what is this Baru, Kachikwu matter all about?”

    Papi D smiles mischievously and begins with a lengthy reply. All is quiet.

    “You see, when you’re confronted with this kind of wuruwuru situation, with Baru threatening to dabaru everything, you draw from your philosophical and etymological experience.

    “In Oyingbo market, alabaru  is the porter. He is onye-ibu in Ariaria market and mai-kaya in Geri Kasuwa. If you don’t watch him closely, he may disappear with your goods. He may also slip and fall, spilling it all, if he is tired or his basket is overloaded. What you have here is an NNPC chief Baru who has refused to be a porter (alabaru), threatening to destroy (dabaru) everything and spill the beans because of the intrigues (wuruwuru).”

    “That’s a bit complex sir. Can you break it down? Expound your argument, Papi D.”

    “Okay. Listen. Kachikwu means ‘who is greater than God’. Right? Put an ‘I’ in front of that and merge it with the first two letters, taking off ‘Chukwu’; what do you have? “Ika” (evil). When a Baru feels a Kachikwu wants to visit him with evil, you have this kind of situation, which Fela Anikulapo- Kuti (my respects, always) called roforofo.”

    There are many questions. Why will a minister find it difficult to see the President? Did Kachikwu’s letter get to Buhari? They told us no money changed hands; so? Who hasn’t heard about the cashless policy? Why have an NNPC Board with members whose job is just to drink tea and share jokes? What does the future hold for Kchikwu? Not cheery, I’m afraid.

  • $25b contracts: NNPC, Baru tackle Kachikwu

    $25b contracts: NNPC, Baru tackle Kachikwu

    Board can’t approve contracts, says oil giant’s handbook

    Is the controversy over the $25 billion contracts a storm in a tea cup? So believes the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    A source has stated the details of the contracts, following allegations by Minister of State Dr Ibe Kachikwu, who said Group Managing Director (GMD) Maikanti Baru:

    • awarded $25b contracts unilaterally;
    • ran a “bravado management”, sidelining the board and the minister; and
    • made appointments without consultations.

    Neither the Federal Government nor the NNPC is committing any cash into the $25billion transactions involving more than six International Oil Companies (IOCs).

    Some of the international competitive biddings on the transactions were witnessed by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for transparency, the source said.

    Both the NNPC and its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, have insisted that the transactions validly conducted within the expenditure limits of the agency.

    They claimed that the board of NNPC cannot approve contracts but they can review and give advice.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is said to be keeping mum to hear from all sides and let the facts and figures speak for themselves. He is said to be unruffled by the allegations in an August 30 memo to him by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

    To avoid any ethnic backlash, there is pressure on the President to spare Kachikwu and Baru if any infractions are noticed at the end of ongoing investigation.

    The Federal Government and the NNPC will not commit any money to the five projects in question, it was learnt.

    It was gathered that prospective investors were expected to source for funds as may be applicable.

    It was also learnt that as for crude transactions and Direct Sales, Direct Purchase(DSDP), the buyers were expected to pay directly into dedicated account (s) of the Federal Government.

    These facts are contained in the presentations of NNPC and GMD to the Presidency and some board members on the allegations raised by Kachikwu on five transactions.

    The projects are:

    • Over $10b Crude Term Contracts
    • Over $5b DSDP contracts
    • The $3b AKK pipeline contract
    • Various financing allocation funding contracts with the NOCs valued at over $3bn
    • Various NPDC production service contracts valued at over $3bn – $4bn

    A source in NNPC management, who spoke in confidence with a document, said: “Our position is that there is so much ignorance on the $25billion transactions. First, there is nothing like a Contract Award in the real sense of the word where money is paid out by NNPC to Contractors.

    “The NNPC was actually in the red as at the time the Minister took over as the GMD. Kachikwu tried his best to exit the debts especially the over $7billion JV cash calls in which he was able to secure 25% relief/rebate. Now, with Kachikwu’s efforts, all the JV partners are back.

    “Baru came around to turn things around and make NNPC and its subsidiaries viable or profit-oriented. There was no money to spend on projects in NNPC and we had to look for alternative sources of funding. So, NNPC is not committing any Kobo to the five transactions. Instead, the oil buyers and investors are to look for money in return for some products or other returns as peculiar to every agreement.

    “And all the transactions have clauses that returns from the investments be paid directly to the government’s account(s), not NNPC’s.

    “Therefore, NNPC selling crude oil to a customer is not a Contract Award; it is a commercial transaction.”

    The document also clarified a few things as follows: “It is the GMD of NNPC that has ever been signing Crude Oil Sales Term Contract at NNPC from the beginning of that corporation as NNOC. From Lawrence Amu, to Chief Morinho, Aret Adams until even when Kachikwu was GMD.

    “When a Customer signs a Term-Contract to buy Nigerian Crude Oil; it is covered by the customer’s bank opening in favor of NNPC either a Standby Letter(s) of Credit (SBLC) or a Documentary Letter(s) of Credit (DLC). Such banks are only amongst the top 50 international banks that are acceptable.

    “It is after lifting any crude oil under the Sales Contract that the L/C is negotiated and the proceeds go to the accounts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the name of NNPC. These accounts are held in New York, mostly. There is no cash that changes hands between individuals for and on behalf of NNPC.

    “Dr. Kachikwu as GMD it was that signed these same contracts in his capacity in 2015/16.

    “There is no law violated here by the NNPC. NNPC Handbook (January 2017) and Public Procurement Act are explicit on the financial limits.

    “The Board of NNPC cannot approve transactions or contracts; it can only review and advise because most members are technical experts who have paid their dues in their careers. All these issues will come forth during Senate investigative hearing.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “The AKK Pipeline Project was inherited and almost 80 per cent completed. We have investors coming in with funds to complete it and we reached an agreement on how to recoup the invested funds.

    “The Direct Sales, Direct Purchase (DSDP) policy was an alternative to the Crude Oil Swap of the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. It was formulated by a staff, tabled before the Board and implemented. In fact, some members of the Board recommended the promotion of the affected staff.”

    Regarding the transactions, the NNPC source said there were documents to show that the transactions went through international competitive biddings.

    “Some of those involved are International Oil Companies (IOCs). We will release their names. Even the $10billion crude terms transactions; about 10 companies were involved. At the appropriate time, we will release the details on those with links with two of these firms.

    “The bidding process was internationally competitive and witnessed by some Non-Governmental Organisations. The standards set by the Minister were strictly followed and everything was reported to the Board of NNPC.”

    President Buhari is said to be planning to hear from all sides and let the facts and figures speak for themselves.

    Buhari was allegedly unruffled by the allegations in Kachikwu’s August 30 memo.

    To avoid any ethnic backlash, there is pressure on the President to spare Kachikwu and Baru if any infractions are noticed at the end of the investigation.

    A government source said: “The President has decided to be quiet because he is hearing from all sides. He does not want to be seen as interfering in the case at hand. At the end of the day, the presidency will release the facts and figures to Nigerians.

    “The President has not personally benefited from the transactions and there is no trace of any money missing. The good thing is that some IOCs were involved in these transactions and Nigerians will soon know them.

    “The only thing the leakage of the memo has caused the administration of President Buhari is embarrassment on some issues which were distorted.”

    Another government source added: “Baru may have to respond to the allegation of insubordination. The Minister may be asked to account for the leakage of the memo. Being once a journalist or writer, no one gives him any benefit of doubt. Yet, Kachikwu has denied any knowledge of the leakage.”

    “But there is pressure on the President to avoid any ethnic backlash by cautioning the two leaders after clearing the Augean Stable,” the source said.

     

    What NNPC handbook says

    The Handbook reads in part: “Due process involves the award and execution of contracts, projects and other activities by organizations openly, economically and transparently in accordance with the provisions of the law and without any regard for self-interest.

    “NNPC as an organization has established a Tenders Board in all its subsidiaries as well as the Corporate Headquarters.

    “By the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, the NNPC Tenders Board is the final approving body for NNPC awarded contracts.

    “Any contracts for a value beyond the financial limits of the NNPC Tenders Board will go via the Board to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

    “The limits of financial authority for expenditure as approved by the Federal Government are as follows:

    • Federal Executive Council (FEC)—( From N2.70billion or from $20million)
    • NNPC Tenders Board—( From N1.40million up to N2.70billion and $410million up to $20million
    • Group Executive Committee (GEC)——( From N540 million up to N1.40 billion and from US$4 million up to US$10 million)
    • Directorate Executive Committee (DEXCOM)—( From N270 million up to N540 million and from $2 million up to $4 million
  • Kachikwu’s letter sparks something sinister

    Kachikwu’s letter sparks something sinister

    In the days ahead, officials of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, like many other analysts, will be tempted to focus almost exclusively on the contents of the August 30th letter written to the president by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu. The letter accuses the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, of insubordination and bureaucratic misconduct. It is possible the NNPC boss will be found guilty of some or all the allegations levelled against him. It is also possible that the infractions listed against him may be of such tameness that he and his accusers could get away with only a slap on the wrist. But overall, the outcome of any discussions or investigations apparently being conducted by both the president and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, is not certain. For now, until the investigations are concluded, it is pointless examining the content and severity of the infractions allegedly committed by Dr Baru.

    The temptation to focus only on the contents of the letter should be resisted. What is far more important and weighty is to focus on why a letter written to the president in late August, and should have been delivered not later than early September, should receive no attention until the first week of October, and only after someone leaked it to the media. The allegations are so weighty and disturbing that the letter should have received immediate attention once it got to the president’s table. If it becomes established that the letter indeed got to the president — and there is no reason it should not have got to him if the presidency has not become dysfunctional — it would even be far more worrisome to know that the president treated the letter with the idiosyncratic casualness many Nigerians attach to him when he is discomfited by the public censure that accompanies his misconceived or misplaced policies.

    Unlike the scandals that have engulfed both the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) director general, Ayodele Oke, it is impossible for the president to limit himself to the usual squirming he has become accustomed to when some of his top appointees are accused of malfeasance. In October 2016, Mr Lawal had first been accused by national lawmakers of feeding fat on contracts meant to bring succour to internally displaced persons in the Northeast. By December, the controversy over the SGF’s conduct was deafening. In January of the following year, the government hastily cleared him of any wrongdoing after what looked like an investigation. Because the noise did not die down, however, the government was forced to take a closer and second look at the allegations, and the SGF was eventually suspended in April. The president feigned disinterest in the scandal, travelled abroad on May 7 for a second medical attention in the United Kingdom, and seemed justified to leave the matter in abeyance. But he returned on August 19 and has yet to find a closure that satisfies justice and morality.

    The Kachikwu letter, however, strikes at the heart of the Buhari presidency, particularly its awkward and contradictory image as a reformist government. The letter is both denotative and connotative of the temper and philosophy of the Buhari presidency, and of the worldview and fundamental character of the president himself. It does not just insinuate that gross and unforgivable bureaucratic malfeasances were committed by a government appointee, much of it deliberate and orchestrated, it also quite clearly infers disturbing connivance at the highest echelons of government and an inexplicable and probably contemptuous foot-dragging at the presidency. This is why it is deeply troubling. That the president has suddenly woken up more than one month after Dr Kachikwu wrote him a letter does not absolve him and his aides of dereliction of responsibility.

    While the president and vice president in their interactions with the accused and the accuser are free to establish the accuracy or otherwise of the allegations, it is far more important for Nigerians to establish a few other salient facts. The first is whether the president received the letter or not. If he did not, then it is necessary to find out who held the letter up, because there must be consequences. But if the president got it, he needs to explain why he ignored it for over a month, for surely he can’t feel so unperturbed as to think that for so weighty a letter, acting with dispatch was needless, or that his office is too indpendent and too powerful not to owe those who elected him an explanation. Indeed, by acting frantically after the letter was leaked, the president seemed to indicate that he was not devoid of a sound assessment of the weightiness of the contents. In addition, the president and his aides must not go away with the impression that all they need to do is find common ground between the accuser and the accused, or rekindle esprit de corps in the NNPC. Terrible infractions have allegedly been committed. They must not only be explained and blames and punishments apportioned, the presidency must also recognise that the accusations indicate that so much is wrong with the running of government, particularly under the Buhari presidency, and ethnic and regional biases have become accentuated.

    The Kachikwu letter exemplified the author’s deep frustrations, perhaps frustrations other similarly excluded cabinet members share. By penning such vigorous and specific allegations against Dr Baru, the Minister of State appears to have resigned himself to whatever consequences his feistiness might attract. The letter not only exposed alleged wrongdoings in the NNPC, some of them truly mindboggling, it also clearly indicates that the author’s position cannot be rendered worse or more prostrate than he already was. Outflanked, outgunned and outmanoeuvred, Dr Kachikwu appears to know he was throwing his last dice. That throw would make or mar him. Should the president resolve this big dilemma — probably the biggest his troubled presidency has faced so far because it deals with his image — by simply doing away with both Dr Kachikwu and Dr Baru, he would not have shown himself or his presidency to be as courageous as he has constantly let out, nor the fair and just man he is cracked up to be.

    The president must accept responsibility for the scandalous allegations. He is Minister of Petroleum Resources though he does not need to be. That ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo kept the job to himself does not make combining the ministerial and presidential jobs sound or correct. Chief Obasanjo freaked everyone out, including the youths in his government, with his bizarre and frenetic work rate. It was purely animalistic adrenalin at work in him. However, there was nothing done in the ministry under Chief Obasanjo that showed he brought uncommon savvy to the job, or that he left the ministry far more organised and ethical than he met it. It was even more unwise for President Buhari to have resolved to keep the jobs of president and petroleum minister when he does not possess half the energy, exposure and attention to detail of Chief Obasanjo to do even one of the two.

    It appears that President Buhari was impervious to the rot alluded to by Dr Kachikwu, despite the two working together to manage the same ministry. The implication is that the president was neither supervising the ministry as closely as he should, nor setting the tone and philosophy by which it must be run. It meant that too many things were happening in that ministry without his knowledge, and if stories are to be believed, without his consent. It also meant, very sadly, that he was virtually an absentee minister. Otherwise, there is no way the controversial appointments that infuriated the Southeast, and the contracts mentioned by the Minister of State, could have been issued without him being in the driver’s seat. More damningly, for a president who swore to have the presence of mind needed for the top job, and who says he is above suspicion or capable of any connivance, how could the tempestuous controversy over the recent postings in the NNPC have escaped his attention? Surely he reads the news, and should have shown interest in what was shaping up into a national crisis, for the country was in a lather over the matter for weeks. It will, therefore, be taken with a pinch of salt to say the president, as Minister of Petroleum Resources, was ignorant of the ministry’s affairs. But if he knew, as seems sensible to speculate, his refusal to probe the controversy and arrest the drift when it began showed connivance.

    Dr Kachikwu was smart to have brought the matter to the attention of the president. Whoever leaked the letter to the media also did the minister a great favour. The worst punishment he can get is to be reshuffled out of the cabinet. But if it comes to that, he will leave with his reputation and dignity intact. He complained of being sidelined and treated shabbily by a subordinate. Now everyone knows it was not because he shirked a fight or was too unintelligent to understand when he was being insulted. Everyone now knows that the strange and indefensible policies and measures emanating from the ministry in the past one year or so came essentially not from him but from a shadowy group of powerful individuals.

    What is even more critical is that everyone now knows, without prejudice to the investigation of the $25bn contracts, that the widespread allegation of a cabal hijacking the Buhari presidency are unlikely to be an exaggeration. Dr Baru himself might still turn out to be a pawn on the convoluted chessboard of the so-called cabal, and Dr Kachikwu a victim. It may even be somewhat established that the Minister of State himself, going by the unsubstantiated allegations against him, might have performed less than stellar in some of his assignments, as many have suggested, but there is no question where the ultimate blame lies. The buck stops with the minister or the president. By combining the two positions less effectively than the positions demanded, President Buhari should tender an unreserved apology and relinquish the ministerial position. If a minister had proved incapable of supervising such an important ministry, he would be sacked. But how does the president sack himself? If he kept the portfolio because he could trust no one to handle it ethically, does his abdication of both responsibility and close supervision not amount to implicit assignation of the ministry to someone else?

    Except President Buhari is in denial, he must begin to appreciate that his presidency is more troubled than he seems to acknowledge. Apart from the intolerable skewness in his key appointments, probably the worst ever, he also dithers badly in tackling deep bureaucratic infractions committed by the offending appointees. And for an elected president, he has not shown any inkling that he understands what democracy, from which he has profited so extravagantly, is all about, nor demonstrated that he has a special liking for it. On top of his curious fondness for the wholesale application of force in every conflict that appears to challenge his political chauvinism, not to say his refusal to respond well to accusations of promoting ethnic exceptionalsim, it is uncertain that after the Buhari presidency, Nigerians will still recognise the democracy they thought they received in 1999.

    As Minister of State, Dr Kachikwu, was barred for an unhealthy long time from meeting or conferring with the Minister of Petroleum Resources, that is, the president. But after the letter leaked, he was summarily ushered into the president’s presence. However, it is doubtful whether the rapprochement is anything but a ruse. The Buhari presidency’s minders are too stouthearted and cabalistic to bend in accommodation. They will be incensed that the junior minister wrote the damning letter, and fly into a rage that the letter leaked. In fact, they will have no interest in mollifying him, or if they do, it will be grudgingly tokenistic. Instead, they will wait in ambush to unhorse him at an opportune time. No one has yet survived their strangulation, not even the sometimes idealistic and optimistic wife of the president, Aisha, whom members of the cabal reportedly painted in unflattering colours not too long ago, complete with a nom de guerre.

    A few weeks before the president returned home from his last medical treatment, Mrs Buhari had eulogised her husband’s newfound vigour and charisma in ecclesiastical allegories that suggested that those who held him captive would be publicly drawn and quartered on the canvass of public prayers. He would return and call his soul his own, she had enthused. Her optimism was unfortunately like a red rag to a bull. Not only are the president’s cynical captors stimulated by opposition, sometimes even deriding those who say the inflexible former army general has been held captive, they see the sanguinary consequences of war as both inevitable and indispensable. Dr Kachikwu may reap short term benefits from his potent and provocative letter, and perhaps be regaled by the president’s bucolic humour during very brief interactions, he will do well, however, to consider the anecdotal graves in which those who took on the president and thumbed their noses at his aides are interred. For if ‘the other room’ suffers from rising damp, there is no reason to think the president’s office, already scarified by rodents, cannot suffocate a daring epistolary upstart.

  • Kachikwu’s letter: NUPENG raises the alarm, pleads for caution

    Kachikwu’s letter: NUPENG raises the alarm, pleads for caution

    The Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, (NUPENG) is alleging   politics in the protest by Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu, over the running, of the affairs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) by its managing director, Dr. Maikanti Baru.

    Kachikwu, in an August 30, 2017 letter to President Muhammadu Buhari had accused Baru of excluding him and the Board of the NNPC in the management of the corporation.

    He said contracts were awarded in clear violation of due process.

    The minister doubles as the board chairman.

    The tanker drivers, however, dismissed the minister’s allegation, saying it was diversionary and deeply political.

    National chairman of the union, Salmon Oladiti warned, in a statement, against what he called unnecessary politicisation and promotion of certain entrenched interests in the upstream and downstream sectors, to the detriment of the nation.

    He declared that individuals not comfortable with certain monumental achievements of the NNPC GMD have been working to create confusion in the industry to ensure that Baru was sacked.

    Oladiti specifically mentioned the ongoing resuscitation of the NNPC depots across the country by Baru, which he noted were dismissed as obsolete by previous management of the industry before Baru assumed office.

    He said: “Our stand is that we are in support of what he has been doing, especially in the downstream sector. Before Baru there were moves to privatise all the depots into private hands. Petroleum marketers and other stakeholders, we were being told that the depots were decrepit   and could no longer function.

    “Nigerians can all see that he has started bringing them to life again. As we speak, Kano is loading and he will soon re-commission Ilorin depot.”

  • Kachikwu: Waiting for Mr. President

    As at the time of writing this piece, neither the Presidency nor the Group Managing Director, GMD, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has responded to the allegations by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmaunel Ibe Kachikwu, in his leaked memo to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Among others, the minister had alleged in the memo that $25 billion contracts were awarded by Dr Baru without the approval of the board. Kachikwu also accused Baru of “bravado management” through which he allegedly sidelined him and the board of NNPC on matters that required their approval.

    After meeting President Buhari on Friday, the minister declined comments from reporters. As it is, it is not certain what the position of the presidency is on this very serious allegation that puts a serious question mark on its anti-corruption policies.

    Normally, the presidency would have responded to issues like this swiftly with either a denial or a promise to investigate the allegation, but surprisingly mum has been the word over the matter.

    Reading through the damming memo of complaints about his frustrations, it is very clear that the presidency has a bad case on its hands. Kachikwu is not known to be one of those frivolous political appointees and for him to have taken his time to write the letter to the president, he must have been very sure of what he was complaining about.

    He sure knows the consequence of making false claims and must have been ready to defend whatever allegation he made. Though the memo, as he claimed, was usual official communication with the president not meant for the public, now that it has leaked, the presidency cannot afford to keep quiet over it.

    Having now met with Kachikwu as it should have been the case regularly considering the importance of the oil sector to our economy, Nigerians are eagerly waiting to hear from the president. He needs tell us his findings on the allegations and what he intends about it.

    It is bad enough that despite the adherence of due-process credentials of the federal government, the GMD could flagrantly violate the requirement to get approval of the board to award the huge amount of contracts he awarded.

    Based on Kachikwu’s memo, the GMD allegedly gave the impression that he had the approval of the president to do whatever he did unlike the heads of other parastatals who report to the minister.

    The president needs to confirm or deny Baru’s claim to serve as a deterrent to other government officials who might be making similar claims. No official should be allowed to get away with violation of laid down procedures due to their closeness to anyone.

    If only Kachikwu’s complaint had been taken seriously and acted on by the president appropriately since August 30 when he wrote his memo, there would not have been much explanation to give on it as it is presently required.

    The minister also raised the shocking issue of not being able to secure appointment to see the president despite many attempts. Why should it be so difficult for a minister who has an urgent matter to discuss with the president find it difficult to do so? Those in charge of booking appointments for the president have some explanations to give on why they disallowed Kachikwu to see the president.

    From all indications, Kachikwu is probably not the only one “suffering in silence” based on their inability to get many things done in their ministries. He is just the only one whose memo has leaked.

    If the Buhari government wants to be taken seriously, this is one issue it has to treat with dispatch to justify its claim that its administration is indeed a departure from the past.

  • Kachikwu and his leaked letter

    There have been arguments on the propriety or otherwise of the letter alleging improper conduct against NNPC’s group managing director, Dr Baru to President Buhari being leaked to the Press.

    The leak could be traced to one of two sources. It could have been from the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ike Kachikwu’s source, ostensibly to force the President’s hands to expeditiously deal with the matter and sanction the NNPC big man. If this is the position, whoever leaked the confidential letter has not done the minister a favour. Rather it has rendered the minister vulnerable, with a safe inference that the minister meant to embarrass not only his GMD but President Buhari as well. My little knowledge of bureaucracy hints of government not taking a dim view of such infraction.

    On the other hand, the letter could also have been leaked to the media by Baru’s agents in the Presidency, with a view to portraying the minister as the bad guy and get him into the black book of the President. Again, if this guess is correct, I think it has backfired, as not just the minister that is embarrassed now but the President as well. As it stands, the points raised in the minister’s letter are so weighty that the public is now entitled to know what the President’s reaction to them will be. It is in his own best interest, as a man with impressive morality credentials, to distance himself from the subtle charge that he might have been complicit in the trillion-dollar infractions; and act accordingly.

    Oil has been spilled on the floor in this matter and it waits to be seen who will be consumed in the inferno that may soon break out of this spillage.

  • Kachikwu protests award of $25b contracts by NNPC

    Kachikwu protests award of $25b contracts by NNPC

    Minister urges Buhari to call Baru to order

    A crisis of confidence has broken out between Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director (GMD)  Dr. Maikanti Baru.

    The minister has accused the GMD of awarding $25billion contracts without consulting either his office or the corporation’s board.

    He blamed the GMD for alleged insubordination, lack of adherence to due process and running a “bravado management style”.

    Kachikwu said he was being sidelined by the GMD and other heads of parastatals in major decisions and appointments.

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the GMD to order to ensure due process and transparency in the oil sector.

    Kachikwu also presented five prayers to the President to save the oil sector from collapse.

    He said he was always being blocked from seeing the President.

    Kachikwu,  in an August 30 memo to Buhari, said he was neither anti-North nor corrupt as being alleged.

    He said he was disturbed that $25billion contracts were awarded by Baru without his input and that of the Board.

    The memo said: “The legal and procedural requirement is that all contracts above $20million would need to be reviewed and approved by the Board of the NNPC. Mr. President, in over one year of Dr. Baru’s tenure, no contract has been run through the Board. This is despite my diplomatic encouragement to Dr. Baru to do so to avoid wrongfully painting you as a President who does not allow due process to thrive in the NNPC.

    “Given the history of malpractices and the public perception of the NNPC as having a history of non-transparency, the NNPC Tenders Board (NTB) cannot be the final clearance authority for contracts it enters into.

    “The NTB, which is a collection of level NNPC executives and COOs, with the GMD as chairman cannot continue to be the final approval authority for multimillion dollar contracts and transactions involving NNPC to the exclusion of the Board.

    Board members have singularly and collectively raised these issues to no avail. “The following major contracts were never reviewed by or discussed with me or the Board of NNPC:

    • The Crude Term Contracts – value at over $10b
    • The DSDP contracts – value over $5b
    • The AKK pipeline contract – value approximately $3b
    • Various financing allocation funding contracts with the NOCs – value over $3bn
    • Various NPDC production service contracts – value at over $3bn – $4bn

    ”There are many more Your Excellency. In most of these activities, the explanation of the GMD is that you are the minister of petroleum and your approvals were obtained. However, the correct governance should be that the Minister of State and the Board review the transaction and give their concurrence prior to presentation to you.

    “As in many cases of things that happen in NNPC these days, I learn of transactions only through publications in the media. The question is why is it that other parastatals which I supervise as Minister of State or Chair of their Boards are able to go through these contractual and mandatory governance processes and yet NNPC is exempt from these?

    “I know that this bravado management style runs contrary to the cleansing operations you engaged me to carry out at the inception of your administration. This is also not in consonance with your own renowned standards of integrity.”

    Kachikwu also said he was being disrespected by the GMD

    He added: I would have wanted to come personally after receiving you at the airport to felicitate with you and discuss matters herein contained, however, I have been unable to secure on appointment to see you despite very many attempts.

    “Mr. President, yesterday like many other Nigerians, I resumed work confronted by many publications of massive changes within the NNPC. Like the previous reorganisations and reposting done since Dr. Baru resumed as GMD. I was never given the opportunity before the announcements to discuss these appointments. This is so despite being minister of State Petroleum and Chairman NNPC Board.

    ”The Board of NNPC which you appointed and, which has met every month since its inauguration and, which by the statutes of NNPC is meant to review these planned appointments and postings, was never briefed. Members of the Board learnt of these appointments from the pages of social media and the press release of NNPC.

    ”I only need to add that previous attempts to rush through these appointments through non-governance backdoor and present same to the Acting President were met with a request that this be discussed with me. This was never done.

    “Indeed in anticipation of vacancies that would arise from retiring senior executives of NNPC, I wrote the GMD a letter requesting that we both have prior review of the proposed appointments. This was to enable me present same to the Board

    “I wrote to the GMD given previous happenstance of this nature. In addition, thereafter, I called the GMD to a private meeting where I discussed these issues, Needless to say that , not only did he not give my letter the courtesy of reply, he proceeded to announce the appointments without consultation or  Board concurrence.

    “Mr. President, please note that there is a Board Services Committee whose function is to review potential appointments and terminations of Senior Staff prior to implementation. This committee was also not consulted.

    The Minister presented five prayers to the President to save the oil sector from collapse.

    The memo said: “My prayers most humbly and respectively are:

    •      That we save NNPC and the oil industry from collapse arising from the above non-transparent practices and empower the Board you inaugurated to do the needful.
    •      That you save the office  of the Minister of State from further humiliation and disrespect  by compelling all parastatals to submit to oversight regulatory mandate and proper supervision which I am supposed to manage on your behalf.
    •      You kindly instruct the GMD to effectively leave NNPC to run as a proper institution and report out along due process lines to the Board and that your Excellency instructs that all reviews be done with the Minister of State prior to your decision.
    •      That to set the right examples, you approve that the recently announced reorganization changes be suspended until the GMD, myself and the Board have made relevant input to same. This will send a clear signal of process and transparency.
    •      That Your Excellency encourages joint presentation meetings between heads of parastatals and the Minister of State to you so as to encourage a culture of working together and implant discipline in the hierarchy.

    “These in my view, Mr. President, will provide you balanced analysis on issues and avoid exposing the exalted office of Mr. President to ridicule. It will also reduce nonproductive, unsubstantiated rumour peddling.”

    NNPC spokesman: I’m not aware

    It’s a normal procedural correspondence, says ministry

    Spokesman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mr Ndu Ughamadu told our reporter at about 9pm yesterday that he had not seen or heard about the minister’s letter. He said he could not comment on it adding that he had just returned from Maiduguri where he went on an assignment.

    But the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in a statement by its Director of Press Idang Alibi titled: ‘publication of a confidential official correspondennce’ said: “The attention of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has been drawn to a publication on a memo emanating from the HMSPR to the President.

    “Please note the following:   The communication under reference is a normal procedural correspondence by the Minister to the President relating to developments in parastatals under his supervision.

    “It is most distressing to the ministry of petroleum resources that a confidential communication to the President on the performance of one of its parastatals can be made public.

    “The focus of the communication was on improving efficiency and deepening transparency in the oil and gas sector for continued investor confidence.

    “It is noteworthy that the President has been fully supportive of the efforts of the Ministry to entrench good governance and accountability in the oil and gas sector.

    “The Ministry of Petroleum Resources remains focused on achieving measurable progress in the implementation of the ongoing oil sector reforms in line with the mandate of the President.”