Newly appointed Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday assumed duty as the Chief Executive of the Corporation at a brief handover ceremony held at the NNPC Towers, Abuja. Until his appointment, Kachikwu was the Executive Vice Chairman and General Counsel of Exxon Mobil (Africa).
Speaking at the event, the new helmsman expressed gratitude to his predecessor, Dr. Joseph T. Dawha, for his hard work in holding the NNPC, while pledging to work assiduously in achieving the president’s growth aspiration for the oil and gas industry.
The appointment of Kachikwu may not have come to many as a surprise, considering that President Muhammadu Buhari had.......
promised to beam his search light on the NNPC, which has a reputation for high level of corruption.
Indeed, Buhari, prior to his inauguration as the President, had promised to carry out an overhaul of the corporation’s activities, while bringing all culprits to book.
Kachikwu, is taken over the affairs of the troubled NNPC at a time the global oil industry is grappling with low crude oil prices.
How Kachikwu emerged
Daily Sun learnt that three people were pencilled down for the job of NNPC GMD. They are Isa Inua, Deputy Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural gas (LNG); Musa Kida of Total Worldwide and Kachikwu.
Sources revealed that although President Buhari found the three nominees qualified and capable of handling the affairs of the NNPC, he apparently picked Kachikwu as the southerner among the three.
Kachikwu is one of the few southerners the Buhari administration has appointed to executive position since May 29. In the last two months, most of the appointments have favoured the North.
Why Joseph Dawha-led management was sacked
The high level of corruption in the NNPC may have led to the sack of the management, especially as it relates to the crude oil swap deal, involving thousands of barels of crude oil that remained unaccounted for.
An independent investigative analysis submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari, revealed that over $32 billion oil revenue was lost to NNPC’s mismanagement of Domestic Crude Allocation (DCA), opaque revenue retention practices and corruption-ridden oil-for-product swap agreements.
Also, the sack of Dawha and hiring of Kachikwu is in line with Buhari’s plan to bring a breath of fresh air into the NNPC. The president, it was gathered, does not want anybody who was part of the system for fear that the person may have been corrupted.
Moreso, in keeping with his promise of sanitising the sector, the coming on board of Kachikwu, may have been informed by his private sector background, as Buhari wants NNP to run as a business entity, with every sense of responsibility. His ascension to the mantle of leadership of NNPC is expected to turn the fortunes of the troubled NNPC around.
Culled - TheSun
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