In continuation of the supremacy battle between the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, the minister has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing the NNPC boss of flagrant violation of due process in the award of contracts and acts of insubordination.
In the letter to the president, the minister accused the NNPC boss of labelling him as “corrupt”, “anti-north,” and also being “in collusion with militants”, in order to convince the president on the need to sideline him in the decision-making process in the state-run oil firm.
Kachikwu alleged that Baru awarded about $24 billion major contracts without his input or review by the NNPC board.
The minister added that he wrote the letter to the president after concerted efforts to have a one-on-one appointment with him at the State House failed.
In the letter dated August 30, 2017, Kachikwu alleged that he read about the recent massive changes at NNPC on the pages of the newspapers, as Baru never discussed the changes 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.
According to the minister, the legal requirement is that all contracts above $20 million should be reviewed and approved by the NNPC board.
He told the president that in over one year of Baru’s tenure as the boss of NNPC, no contract has been run through 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.
