President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into seven new divisions. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who disclosed this at a briefing in Abuja, maintained that in the new structure, the NNPC would have five new core divisions comprising the Upstream, Downstream, Refining Group, Midstream, and Finance. The other two, according to Kachikwu, are Ventures and Services Groups.
“Nothing much had changed from the unbundling,” the minister said. “Except for the distribution of subsidiary companies of the corporation that would further be restructured into direct management of the divisions.
“Five of the seven operational units will be strictly business-focused in line with global best practices of national oil companies.” Kachikwu re-affirmed that the “new units include those for Upstream, Downstream, Gas and Power, Refineries, Ventures, Corporate Planning and Services and Finance and Accounts.” Each of the units would be headed by chief executive officers, namely Bello Rabiu for Upstream; Henry Ikem-Onih (Downstream); Anibor Kragha (Refineries); Saudu Mohammed (Gas & Power), while Babatunde Adeniran heads the Ventures.
The Group Executive Director in charge of Finance and Services would be Isiaka Abdulrazaq, while the Executive Head, Corporate Services will be Isa Inuwa. All appointments take immediate effect. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday condemned the unbundling of the NNPC by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying it will be unconstitutional without sending a law to back it up.
The House consequently mandated the committees on petroleum upstream, petroleum downstream, gas and local content and legislative compliance to ensure that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC was prevented from usurping the functions of the National Assembly and “desecrating the Constitution of Nigeria by not allowing him legislate for the National Assembly in the unbundling of NNPC”.
The lower chamber advised President Buhari to immediately send an executive bill to the National Assembly before unbundling the NNPC or carrying out fundamental restructuring in the oil and gas sector and not for the minister to usurp its functions.
The resolutions of the House followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP, Cross River) entitled, “Urgent need to investigate acts of procedural breach by the GMD of NNPC.” While leading debate on the motion, Jarigbe noted that the NNPC was established through the NNPC, CAP N123, laws of the Federation, 2004 and that as a creature of legislature, the NNPC Act or any part thereof can only be altered, changed or otherwise amended only by an Act of the National Assembly.
Jarigbe also told the House that the legislative powers of Nigeria was vested in the National Assembly with power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation or any part thereof with respect to matters included in the executive legislative list.
He said the petroleum and natural gas was included as item 39 on the exclusive list and that it was only by an Act of the National Assembly that the NNPC can be unbundled and not by the fiat or administrative pronouncement of the minister or even the president. He further expressed worry that the minister’s pronouncement pre-empted the provisions of the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill, which had not been introduced in the 8th Assembly.
