The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) has announced a major overhaul of its organizational structure with 54 new appointments.
President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mallam Mohammed Deen Garba was appointed new Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division.
while the former head of the division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe was redeployed to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) unit.
A statement by NNPC management Thursday night said: “As part of the recent reorganization of NNPC, the management of the organization wishes to formally announce the following appointments, redeployments, and secondments into key positions.
“These appointments take effect immediately. The new unit heads are expected to resume fully by April 1st 2016.”
The appointments are as follows: GEDs/COOs are Upstream – Bello Rabiu; Downstream – Henry Ikem–Obih; Refineries – Anibor Kragha; Gas and Power – Saidu Mohammed; Ventures – Babatunde Adeniran; Finance & Accounts – Isiaka Abdulrazaq; and Corporate Services – Isa Inuwa.
The Group General Managers, Strategy and Execution, who will support the GEDs and COOs include Downstream – Surajdeen Afolabi; Refineries – Ugochukwu Afamefuna Vitalis; Gas and Power – Yusuf Matashi; Ventures – Ladipo Fagbola;
Finance and Accounts – Ahmadu Sambo; and Corporate Services – Modupe Bammake.
Strategic Business Heads are Upstream MD IDSL – Roland Ewubare;
Downstream MD Retail – Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue; MD Nigeria Petroleum Marketing – Ahmed Farouk; GGM Marine Logistics – Dalhatu Makama; RefineriesMD PHRC – Bafred Enjugu ; MD WRPC – Adewale Ladenegan; MD KRPC – Idi Mukhtar; Gas & Power MD Gas & Power Investments – Samuel Ndukwe; MD NGMC – Mazadu Bako and MD NGPTC – Babatunde Bakare
Others are VenturesbMD Properties – Danny Sokari George; MD Shipping – Saidu Abdulkadir; MD NETCO – Aliyu Sikiru; MD NOFS – Lawrencia Ndupu; GGM RED/Frontier Exploration Services – Rabiu Suleiman and GGM Medicals – Oyetunde Olubunmi Oyekan.
Those in GMD’s office are GMD’s Office GGM NAPIMS – Dafe Sejebor; GGM Govt. and Labour Relations – Ndu Aghumadu; GM Efficiency Unit – Bala Wunti; GGM CSLD – Chidi Momah and GGM CSR – Ohi Alegbe.
The top officials in Corporate Services unit are Corporate Services GGM ITD – Inuwa Danladi; GGM HR – Adekemi Akitoye; GGM GPAD – Mohammed Deen Garba; GGM ETD – Farouk G. Sa’id; GM SCM – Sophia Mbakwe; GM Group Security – Sam Otoboeze; GM HSE – Maduebo Mbakwe and GM Group Admin Services – Eziaha Uchendu.
Tag: NNPC
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Reorganization: 54 new appointments in NNPC
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Senate backs minister on NNPC restructuring
The Senate Thursday threw its weight behind the Minister of Petroleum Resources,(State) Dr. Ibe Kachikwu’s decision to restructure the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC).
Senators said that they are satisfied with the measures taken by the minister to restructure the corporation especially when no law was breached in the process of carrying out the restructuring.
The lawmakers however scolded Kachikwu for his failure to consult the National Assembly before carrying out the controversial exercise.
Three standing committees of the Senate grilled Kachikwu on the motive behind the restructuring of the NNPC.
Senator Tayo Alasoadura, Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) and Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Jibrin Barau and Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, conducted the session which later moved into a closed session.
Alasoadura told reporters after the closed session that they are satisfied with the measures taken by the minister aimed at making units of the NNPC more functional.
The Ondo Central lawmaker added that Kachikwu did not breach any law in carrying out the restructuring,
Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye (Osun central) who led the question-and-answer session noted that the Act that established the NNPC especially cap1, 23© 1d gave the NNPC management free hand to operate as an entity.
Adeyeye said that the Act however did not give them the power to create autonomous firms that would be independent of the NNPC.
He also said that the Act clearly stated that the affairs of the NNPC must be conducted by a board.
A member of the committee, Senator, Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North), urged the minister to go head with far reaching restructuring of the NNPC.
Senator Utazi who insisted that change in the NNPC was long over due, said the Minister should not mind vested interests in the oil and gas sectors who were working to compromise necessary changes in the NNPC.
Utazi said, “Mr. Minister, you must understand the sort of resistance that would come when you want to change things. But you must continue doing what you are doing. Don’t be deterred; don’t be tired of the reforms you are carrying out. We understand what you are doing. Just go on with what you are doing we are behind you.”
Another member of the Committee, Senator Biodun Olujimi, said that government must have human face in its actions.
Olujimi said that there was no doubt that the minister by his action has effectively pre-empted the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
She wondered why the restructuring was conducted without recourse to the National Assembly.
Senator Emmanuel Paulker in his contribution said that the minister should have carried unions in the industry along.
Paulker noted that if the NNPC was shut down for any reason, the economy of the country would be adversely affected.
He said that there was no reason for the minister not to have consulted the National Assembly before carrying out the measures.
Senator Stella Oduah, (Anambra North) wondered why such huge restructuring of the NNPC would be carried out without the knowledge of the National Assembly.
She also underscored the issue of aging equipment in the oil and gas industry.
Kachikwu insisted that what his ministry did was not unbundling, but restructuring.
He also said that it is not true that the exercise was carried out without the approval of a board and the Federal Executive Council, as stated in the Act.
He said that the approval process began long age.
The minister said that the real chairman of the NNPC Board is the Minister of Petroleum.
He said that with the measures taken by the ministry, there will slightly be less control from the head office.
He noted that other than aging equipment, the refineries, for instance, have not been given the independence they required to operate.
“He said, “You cannot bring in loanable funds into the refineries because for you to bring loanable funds you have to have the cash flow to fund the loan.”
The minister said that there is already a committee of staff and management in the NNPC looking at the measures being taken by the ministry.
The NNPC Act Part 1, states in part that:
“It shall be the duty of the Corporation, from time to time, when the National Council of Ministers so requires or the Corporation considers it appropriate to undertake a general review of the affairs of the Corporation and of any subsidiaries thereof for the purpose of determining how the management of the activities of the Corporation or any subsidiary thereof can most efficiently be organised and, where appropriate, to make a report to the National Council of Ministers upon the Corporation’s conclusions arising from the review.
6.(1)The Corporation shall have powers to do anything which in its opinion is calculated to facilitate the carrying out of its duties under this Act including, without limiting the generality of the following, the power –
(a)to hold, manage and alienate movable and immovable property;
(b)to purchase or otherwise acquire or take over all or any of the assets, businesses, properties, privileges, contracts, rights, obligations and liabilities of any other company, firm or person in furtherance of any business engaged in by the Corporation;
(c)to enter into contracts or partnerships with any company, firm or person which in the opinion of the Corporation will facilitate the discharge of the said duties under this Act;
(d)to establish and maintain subsidiaries for the discharge of such functions as the Corporation may determine; and
(e) to train managerial, technical and such other staff for the purpose of the running of its operations and for the petroleum industry in general.(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, any contract relating to any project of a value of more than N5,000,000 (or such higher limit as may be directed from time to time by the National Council of Ministers) shall be referred by the Corporation to the National Council of Ministers for approval before the award of any such contract is made by the Corporation.
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FG sanitizing NNPC, says IPMAN
National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Obasi Lawson, has said the moves to restructure the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the Federal Government will help in sanitising the petroleum sector.
Lawson, who was on a two-day visit to the Calabar unit of IPMAN, said the introduction of any new policy was likely to attract opposition, which was why the oil workers embarked on strike.
He said this when he led a delegation on courtesy visit to the Cross River State Attorney General, Mr. Joe Abang.
The Economic Adviser to the national president of IPMAN, Mr Michael Udofia, described the problem of petrol scarcity in the country as systemic.
“The problem of scarcity in Nigeria is systemic, and until this system issues we would still go back to the same level. Let us take for instance, we do not have any reason be importing petroleum products. Why are our refineries established in the 70s and 80s are not maintained. Why are we having these issues.
“We have crude oil, we export that same crude oil, only to go back and import the refined product. It is a paradox. By moving out the crude oil, of course freight comes in, insurance comes in and the people that haulage this product to the different countries come in. That is a huge cost in itself. For you to go and bring these same products again, that is additional cost. So I think the time has come for us to do the right thing, because we don’t have any other country, outside Nigeria. Let us do the right thing and ensure our refineries work.
“Two, if you feel we should import, then there is no need for the price ceiling. Sealing this price at N86.50, because what happens if a businessman brings in this product at the rate that is higher, for the mere fact that you have sealed the price, it is bound to throw up issues. So unseal it if you cannot refine it. Anybody that is able and capable to bring it, let him it in, and you find out that if you do so, with the fluctuation and almost near collapse of crude oil price internationally, the price can even come down to even below N86, because we are going to have efficiency in the system.”
He expressed confidence the Federal Government was on top of the present situation and the problem would be addressed soon.
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Senate summons Kachikwu over NNPC’s structure
The Senate yesterday invited the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, over the announced unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
He is to appear today at the joint session of the Senate Committees on Petroleum (Down and Upstream and Gas.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) Senator Tayo Alasoadura who endorsed the letter of invitation, said they were “shocked” and “in disbelief” over the announcement unbundling the Corporation.
The letter read in part, “Shocked by the announcement in disbelief, three committees overseeing the industry wish to invite the Minister to appear before them to brief them of this critical decision in a meeting schedule Thursday.”
Alasoadura said the action was taken “without recourse to the Act establishing the NNPC and approval by the Senate of Nigeria.”
Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume also told reporters in Abuja that the announcement of the unbundling of the Corporation has generated issues that the Senate is looking into.
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Unbundling: Oil workers shut down NNPC, operations
• Fuel scarcity looms
Nigerian oil workers have shut down the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) nationwide and its corporate headquarters in Abuja called the NNPC Towers to protest Tuesday’s unbundling of the Corporation by the Federal Government.
The protesting oil workers, including the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), barricaded the entrances into the NNPC Towers thereby preventing access into the complex
It directed its members to down tool with immediate effect. With this directive, members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), an arm of NUPENG, have stopped lifting fuel from both government and privately owned fuel depots.
Owing to the directive there has been resurgence of long fuel queues in retail outlets that sold petrol, and hawkers were seen in most Lagos roads selling fuel at prices, ranging from N2500 to N3000 for the 10litre keg
The oil workers said they are opposed to the government’s decision to unbundle the Corporation. The Nation learnt, that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, did not take into confidence the management of the Corporation and the representatives of the oil workers’ unions. The Corporation’s management and the oil workers said they got the Tuesday’s NNPC unbundling announcement by Kachikwu as a shock.
The unions expressed concern that the unbundling of the Corporation will lead to job losses.
The Nation learnt that the Group Executive Committee (GEC) of NUPENG and PENGASSAN convened an emergency meeting at 10pm on Tuesday to discuss the development.
In a statement signed by the Acting General-Secretary, PENGASSAN, Comrade Lumumba Okugbawa, the union described the plan as an arbitrariness of the executive power by the Minister, adding that the Minister unilaterally declared the unbundling of the NNPC without consultation with other critical stakeholders, including PENGASSAN and NUPENG.
They alleged that all attempts to ensure that the Minister attend to their concerns on labour issues proved abortive as he refused to meet with the workers. Okugbawa said the move by the government will be tantamount to policy summersault on the part of the government.
He said the unbundling plan will stave off investors from the nation’s oil and gas industry at this time when the nation needs foreign investment most to grow the industry, which currently is the mainstay of the economy.
He explained that the government did not take into consideration the existing law that established the NNPC before planning to unbundle the corporation.
He said, “There is an existing NNPC Act of 1977 that set up the NNPC. This Act has many provisions that deal with structure and operations of the corporation. There are many issues such as pensions and transfer of the employees, which are provided for in the NNPC Act of 1977. What will happen to all these provisions of the law?
“For the government to do anything with the current NNPC, the Act must either be repealed or amended to accommodate the planned restructuring. If not done, it will equal to lack of respect for the rule of law on the part of the government.
“The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that is expected to be the legal instrument for the ongoing reforms of the Oil and Gas industry will be meaningless if the Government should introduce plans outside the reforms, The PIB is germane to the development of the nation’s Oil and Gas Industry.
“Above all, the various stakeholders, especially the unions should be involved before any major change is carried out in the organisation and before any unilateral statement capable of heating up the industrial climate is made.”
Hundreds of the Corporation’s staff besieged the road in the morning causing gridlock on Herbert Macaulay way which houses the NNPC Towers. Union members were in red at the front of the barricaded headquarters, while security agents were on hand to forestall break down of law and order.
A source at the NNPC told The Nation that efforts are being made to bring the Labour, NNPC management to discussion table with the Minister but the Labour unions are insisting that until Minister reverses unbundling, protest will continue.
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Unbundling NNPC is not an option for PIB, says auditor
Splitting the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into several companies may not address the problem of lack of clarity in the fiscal terms, Oil and Gas Auditor, John Adidi, has said
Adidi, who spoke to The Nation on telephone, said when the laws guiding the industry, including the fiscal regime for the Joint Ventures (JV) and the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), were not made clear, it would not bring foreign investors back, adding it should rather be a reform.
He said: “What the government should have done is to take a general look at the petroleum industry bill (PIB) and represent it either in bits so that whatever law that is made would be current.”
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), when passed into an Act, becomes the master reference law that governs the petroleum industry – from the upstream division (exploratory, development and production activities) through the midstream (gas processing) to downstream (servicing, refining, distribution, transportation,marketing/retailing)
He said though crude oil price was falling globally, nevertheless oil is still the number one revenue earner for the country.
He said the country needed to have a framework because anybody investing in the oil and gas is investing for the long term because it is capital intensive.
“There is no way an investor would put money when he doesn’t know what the laws are, especially when the fiscal regime is not clear. No wise investor can put his money in the Nigerian oil and gas sector,” he added.
While in support of the government policy to make the NNPC better run as a national oil company, Adidi maintained that it should be part of a larger reform. “NNPC still remains too complex so you need to have it broken down. It is too complex and big, that is why it is difficult to be handled by one person,” he said.
Adidi said for now, there is no PIB. According to him, the last PIB was the 2012 version, which got to a certain level before the seventh assembly wound up
He argued that the PIB not being passed into law meant that industry still operates the law that has expired in the country. He said the PIB was supposed to be reintroduced to the National Assembly by the executive because it is an executive bill. According to him, the House of Representatives had indicated that they have been waiting for that bill to be reintroduced and the executive appears not too keen to do that, rather they wanted to use the extant legislation to do whatever policy review and reform they want to do.
“One would have expected that the present executive looks at that PIB again and remove what they don’t want and represent it to the National Assembly because the bill has to go through the whole process again, first reading, second reading, committee stage and the third reading,” he said.
Adidi said there is no clarity in the law guiding the industry. “We are in a depressed economy and the revenue due to the government is falling drastically. There is need for the government to have a think-tank that will look and carry out various economic researches, looking at how best to diversify the economy away from oil and then ensure that the revenue was increased to run the social programmes that the government has embarked upon,” he said.
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‘Why NNPC can’t be privatised’
The petroleum product is a natural resource that is communally held and in real sense, it doesn’t belong to any company, individual or group, so the call for privatisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or the sector should not arise, Jite Ogunye, a lawyer, has said.
He told The Nation in Lagos that going by statistics, privatised organisations have not served the interest of the economy and the people. He identified corruption as a major issue that should be tackled in the oil and gas industry. He urged the Federal Government to overhaul and re-engineer the industry by putting credible and knowledgable persons to run the sector.
The oil and gas industry require such people to form the management of the oil sector if the country will make meaningful headway with sector in the face of these challenges facing the oil and gas industry, he stated.
He said: “I don’t think the major challenge in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria is lack of capacity. We have been drilling oil in Nigeria since 1958 and overtime the expertise either locally developed or brought in by foreign penetration has come of world standard.
“The key issue has to do with corruption. Corruption has almost brought the country to its knees. In the oil and gas sector the government has to tackle the issues of corruption, and one way of doing this is to reengineer the NNPC.”
He also noted that for too long, appointments into the key sector have been more political than professional. There are visible efforts by the present government to clean up the rot in the sector, however, it has to be holistic.
He said the level of corruption in the NNPC may have informed the reason many are calling on the government to hand over the all important firm to private sector. He stressed the urgent need for the government to strengthen the nation’s institutions including the judiciary and the legislature, adding that the oil and gas sector does not operate in a vacuum but in neighbourhood and environment.
“We also need to think of the external environment that has factors and institutions that infringe on the oil and gas sector,” he said.
If the regulating authorities are working, if our law enforcement agencies are working in that sector, signature bonuses will not disappear, remittances of royalties will no longer be hard in the oil and gas sector, but as long as those laws are not enforced, we will continue to have problem,” he stated.
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NNPC supplies 10.23m litres of fuel Lagos
In fulfillment of its agreement oil marketers to stem the ongoing fuel scarcity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has increased its daily supply of petrol to Lagos from 295 trucks (9.7 million litres) as at Monday to 310 trucks yesterday, which is 10.2 million litres.
The Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Obafemi Olawore said marketers received the 310 trucks yesterday, adding that if the same quantity is received today, the long queues at filing stations will ease out by end of the week.
Olawore stated that there are vessels laden with products that were imported by NNPC but the problem is that the Corporation lacks storage and distribution facilities to distribute the products, which accounts for the current situation on ground.
He noted that when the importation ratio was 50:50 between marketers and the NNPC, the distribution situation was not this bad, adding that the 78 per cent importation ratio given to the Corporation may be reviewed in second quarter.
He confirmed that many filling stations were selling at above the regulated pump price, but explained that such situation obtains because the demand surpasses supply and many people sell at whatever price they like to make more profit.
He also said marketers are not importing because of lack of access to foreign exchange.
He said: ‘’Only NNPC has access to forex and that hinders adequate importation. However, government should have the courage to deregulate the downstream sector, so there will be local production and also encourage investors to invest in the sector. ‘’
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Blame NNPC for fuel scarcity, says PTD
The Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) Branch of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.
PTD National Chairman Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, who spoke in an interview with reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said oil marketers were not hoarding fuel.
“We are not conniving with anybody to make Nigerians suffer for fuel. For some time now, we have not been able to load at NNPC depot in Apata, Ibadan and there is no hope of loading in some other NNPC depots in the Southwest.
“Government is responsible for this problem, because if they bring enough oil into the country, we as distributors we are ready to sell it out. It’s so sad that we are one of the largest producers of oil, but we are still suffering from scarcity,” he said
Oladiti added: “NNPC imports about 75 per cent of the oil we are consuming in the country. The remaining 25 percentage is for major marketers.
“What the government is trying to tackle still exist; corruption is still in the oil industry. There is corruption and bribery at the oil depots and you have to face this hurdle before you can load your truck.”
He noted that government needs to find lasting solution to incessant fuel scarcity, adding: “The common man in the country is suffering.”
He urged the government to embark on aggressive rehabilitations of roads and railway networks
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PPPRA appointment: PENGASSAN may resort to moral suasion
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) branch of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Friday said that it would resort to moral suasion should efforts at engaging the federal government to appoint the agency’s Executive Secretary from the organization fail.
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources had on February 22 deployed a senior staff from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Stephanie Iyoyo, to act as the Executive Secretary.
As government relieved the former Executive Secretary, Farouk Ahmed of his job last week, he handed over to the most senior staff (Mr. Moses Mbaba) four days after.
But confusion ensued in the agency when Iyoyo also assumed the office in the same capacity on Monday leading to the association’s protest.
Speaking with journalist at Abuja Friday, the branch chairman, Comrade Victor Ononokpono, said “What you are asking me is what is our plan B? We have decided since the national body has taken over the matter, to deploy moral suasion.”
Earlier, he said that the persistent deployment of NNPC staff to head the agency is a fragrant contravention of a portion of the act, establishing the PPPRA.
The association raised some question about the propriety of assigning an operator to be a regulator.
“How do you query your pay master? How do we align with global best practice? How do we promote control and checks in corporate governance?” Ononokpono asked, adding ‘These are the questions the protest seeks answers to.”
According to him, the union had on Tuesday restricted the protest to the Head-Office, thereby allowing free and seamless flow of supply and distribution of petroleum products while pressing for its demands in a peaceful manner.
The association called on Nigerians to lend their voices to issue.