By Mfom Bassey-Wellington
The August 31, 2017 letter from the Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, complaining of the insubordination of
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Dr.
Maikanti Baru, began to generate ripples less than 24 hours after it was made
available to the media. The Senate, for example, the next day resolved to set
up an ad hoc committee to investigate grave allegations against the NNPC chief
executive.
The decision followed
a motion by Senator Samuel Anyanwu asking for a probe into the enormous and
constant jobs given to Duke Energy, a motion which Senator Kabiru Marafa
successfully prayed the Senate to include an investigation into the charge that
Dr Baru has awarded $25 billion contracts without due process.
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| Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and President Buhari |
In the letter to
President Buhari, Kachikwu, who is also the chairman of the NNPC Board of
Directors, revealed that the NNPC GMD has since his appointment sidelined him
in the affairs of the organisation. He cited the example of recent appointments
as part of the NNPC reorganisation done without his knowledge, as he read about
the changes only in the media, like any other person. The irony is that the
appointments were made shortly after the corporation’s board held a meeting
which, presumably, Baru attended. In other words, he did not deem it fit to
intimate the board of the impending development.
