Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibeh Kachikwu
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has
revealed the reason why he decided to write a letter to President
Muhammadu Buhari to complain about the activities of the Group Managing
Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr.
Maikanti Baru.
This comes after his critics argued that he should have made
efforts to discuss the matters with Buhari one-on-one before writing a
letter, knowing that such means is prone to leakage.
Revealing why he had to write to Buhari, Kachikwu stated that he
tried to have a one-on-one appointment with the president at the State
House but was blocked. “I have been unable to secure an appointment to see you despite very many attempts” Kachikwu told Buhari in his disturbing letter.
The revelation has caused many people to wonder why Kachikwu should
be blocked from seeing his principal who appointed him to the post. In
the letter dated August 30, 2017, Kachikwu complained bitterly about the
recent massive changes at NNPC as the changes were never discussed with
him and members of the board of the corporation.
“Indeed, in anticipation of vacancies that would arise from
retiring senior executives of NNPC, I wrote the GMD (Baru) a letter
requesting that we both have prior review of the proposed appointments.
This was to enable me to present same to the board or give an
anticipatory approval and then review with the board later.
“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 a reply, he proceeded to announce the
appointments without consultation or board concurrence,” Kachikwu said.
Kachikwu added that Baru did not also consult the Board Services
Committee, whose function it is to review potential appointments and
terminations of senior staff prior to implementation.
The minister also alleged that Baru had sidelined the NNPC Board in
the awards of contracts. He said the NNPC boss disobeyed the legal
requirement which said that all contracts above $20 million should be
reviewed and approved by the NNPC board.
“This is despite my diplomatic encouragement of Dr. Baru to do
so to avoid wrongfully painting you as a president who does not allow
due process to thrive in NNPC. Given the history of malpractices and the
public perception of 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 top-level NNPC executives
and COOs, with the GMD as chairman, cannot continue to be the final
approval authority for multi-million dollar contracts and transactions
involving NNPC to the exclusion of the board.
“Board members have singularly and collectively raised these issues to no avail,” Kachikwu explained.
The minister listed major contracts awarded by Baru without the
input of NNPC board to include $10 billion crude term contracts; $5
billion direct sales direct purchase (DSDP) contracts; $3 billion AKK
pipeline contract; financing allocation funding contracts worth $3
billion; and NPDC production service contracts valued at $3-$4 billion.
“There are much 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 is 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 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 renowned
standards of integrity,” Kachikwu said.
Kachikwu informed Buhari that even though the appointments of other
heads of parastatals in the Ministry of Petroleum were made without his
input, he has maintained a cordial and respectful relationship with all
of them.
According to him, the heads of the other parastatals have continued
to excel in their areas and adhere to mandatory governance processes.
He revealed that his working relationship with Baru has been
“fraught with humiliation, sidelining, and campaigns of character
defamation against me”.
“This is particularly frustrating given the many contributions I
have made to the growth and stability of the Nigerian oil and gas
industry through the many policies I have introduced since August 2015.
“If NNPC is considered and known to be one of the parastatals
under the ministry, why does the GMD refuse to report to my office or to
the board on serious issues such as above, especially given that I have
been by Your Grace, the minister with oversight responsibilities over
these parastatals for two years?” Kachikwu queried.
The minister further alleged that when he called for meetings, Baru
would send his subordinates without the courtesy of a call to explain
his absence.
He said he had managed the bad perception created by Baru’s blatant
insubordination and disrespectful attitude and had also worked hard to
avoid being seen as petty and meddlesome.
The minister alleged that Baru has created a fear culture in NNPC,
against the open administration he had introduced with the president’s
support in their first year of pushing reforms.
“NNPC staff are afraid of contacting me to avoid being
punished, sidelined in appointments and targeted. Indeed, the key factor
for growth and advancement in NNPC of today is to avoid the Minister of
State’s Office,” Kachikwu added.
On the allegation being circulated by faceless blogs that he is
anti-north, Kachikwu said all his appointments were generated with key
inputs from all the COOs of NNPC and were balanced and based strictly on
skills, experience, drive and ethnic balancing for senior management
positions.
He stated that he is a detribalised Nigerian who grew up in Kano and had worked in various parts of the country.
According to him, he has no reason to be anti-north, as he has also
found in his working career that good and skillful people abound
everywhere in Nigeria.
He also denied the allegation of corruption being circulated by
some blogs, stressing that all contracts awarded under his watch were
based on merit, adding that he rarely participated in those contractual
processes except to review them.
“Anyone peddling any contrary information is resorting to cheap blackmail,” he said.
Reacting to the allegation that he was in collusion with Niger
Delta militants, Kachikwu reminded Buhari that the blueprint of all his
engagements with the militants was discussed and approved by him (the
president).
According to him, all the engagements with the militants was done
in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President, DSS and NSA,
adding that he took the issue of security headlong because it was the
primary causative factor for oil production that declined from 2.2
million barrels per day to 1 million barrels per day in November 2016.
“I took on the issue of security headlong because it was the
primary causative factor for production that declined from 2.2 mbpd to 1
mbpd at our lowest point (November 2016). At great risk to my life, I
visited militant camps, coordinated with our security apparatus,
organised the tour of the HEVP (His Excellency the Vice-President) to
several frontline states and worked with PANDEF and other groups to
bring calm and increase production and some measure of stability to what
it is today.
“I have never betrayed the trust that you placed on me. I did
not deploy any public financial resources to achieve the results of the
Niger Delta region. Most times I have utilised my own personal resources
and goodwill accumulated over the many years prior to my appointment to
achieve these far-reaching results and of course, all these were
coordinated with agencies of government (Office of the VP, DSS, NSA,
etc).
“I dare mention that the blueprint of these engagements was discussed with and approved by you.
“Given the sensitivity of my position, I remain one of the most
tracked officers of your government, so if there is any truth to these
rumours, you would have known,” Kachikwu added.
The minister also urged the president to save the NNPC and the
country’s oil and gas industry from collapse arising from
non-transparent practices and empower the NNPC board to do the needful.
He pleaded with Buhari to save him from the humiliation and
disrespect by compelling NNPC to submit to oversight regulatory mandate
and supervision, which he is supposed to manage on behalf of the
president.
Kachikwu also wants the president to order the suspension of the
recent appointments and promotions in NNPC until he and the NNPC board
have made their inputs, noting that this would send a clear signal of
process and transparency.
He also asked the president to encourage joint presentation
meetings by the heads of parastatals and himself to Buhari in order to
foster a culture of working together and implant discipline in the
hierarchy.
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