for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has written a petition to President Muhammadu
Buhari, alleging acts of insubordination and humiliation by the Group Managing
Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr.
Maikanti Baru.
In the letter, titled ‘Re: Matters of insubordination and
lack of adherence to due process by the GMD NNPC – Dr. Baru,’ written on August
30, Kachikwu said the NNPC boss had repeatedly sidelined and disrespected the
board of the national oil firm, which is chaired by the minister of
state.
The minister outlined the various alleged misdemeanours of the
NNPC boss, urging Buhari to intervene by calling on Baru to respect due
process.
In August 2015, Buhari appointed Kachikwu as
the NNPC GMD, but replaced him with Baru in July 2016 and made the minister the
chairman of the corporation’s board.
In the letter, sighted by Punch in
Abuja on Tuesday, Kachikwu said, “Mr. President, yesterday (August 29, 2017)
like many other Nigerians, l resumed work and confronted with many publications
of massive changes within the NNPC.
“Like the previous reorganisations
and ‘repostings’ 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 the 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 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.”
Kachikwu told Buhari that it was in the spirit of
service and absolute belief in the President’s leadership and integrity that he
(Kachikwu), after one year of tolerating the disrespectful and humiliating
conduct by Baru, decided to bring the GMD’s acts to the
President.
Kachikwu said he had been on a race to stabilise and move the
industry to the next phase, adding that parastatals and all CEOs at these
parastatals must be aligned with the policy drive at the supervising ministry to
allow the sector register the growth that had eluded it for many
years.
The minister stated that in anticipation of vacancies that would
arise from retiring senior executives of the NNPC, he wrote to the GMD a letter
requesting that they both have prior review of the proposed
appointments.
“Not only did he (Baru) not give my letter the courtesy
of a reply, he proceeded to announce the appointments without consultation on
board concurrence.
“Mr. President, please note that there is a board
service committee, whose function is to review potential appointments and
termination of senior staff prior to implementation. This committee was also not
consulted,” Kachikwu said in his letter.
He said the open administration,
which he introduced, had been completely eroded, as NNPC staff members were
afraid of contacting the minister for fear of being punished, sidelined in
appointments and targeted.
“The effect of the attitude of the GMD and the
sidelining of the board is that there is a fear culture in the NNPC,” Kachikwu
stressed.
Listing his prayers, the minister noted that:
non-transparent practices and empower the board you inaugurated to do the
needful.”
He added, “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
the NNPC to run as a proper institution and report out along due process lines
to the board and that Your Excellency instruct that all reviews be done with the
minister of state prior to your decision.
“That to set right examples,
you approve that the recently announced reorganisation changes be suspended
until the GMD, myself and the board have made relevant input to same. This will
send a clear signal of due process and transparency.
“That Your
Excellency encourage joint presentation meeting between head of parastatals and
the minister of state to you as to encourage a culture of working together and
implant discipline in the hierarchy.”
Kachikwu said against the rules,
some major contracts were never reviewed or discussed with him or the board of
NNPC.
Some of these contracts, he stated, include the Crude Term
contracts, valued at over $10bn; the DSDP contracts, valued at over $5bn; the
AKK pipeline contract, valued at about $3bn; various financing allocation
funding contracts with the NOCs, valued at over $3bn; various NPDC production
service contracts, valued at over $3bn to $4bn.
“The legal and
procedural requirement is that all contracts above $20m would need to be
reviewed and approved by the board of NNPC. Mr. President, in over one year of
Mr Baru’s tenure, no contract has been run through the board.
transactions only through publications in the media,’’ Kachikwu wrote.
