The Integrity Youth Alliance has condemned the call for the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited made by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP); Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; former Governor of the Central Bank (CBN) and former Emir of Kano, His Royal Majesty Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi.
According to a statement signed on Monday, 17th October 2022 by the Alliance’s National Coordinator, Kelvin Adegbenga, those calling for the scrapping are misinformed because they are unaware of the specialized, deep, technical, legal, global, and labor issues associated with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, as it relates to the entire gamut of Upstream, Midstream, and downstream of the Nigerian Petroleum Sector and global Petroleum ecosystem.
“We wish to remind these misinformed individuals that the Petroleum Industry Act has established the necessary roadmap to a fully commercialized and privatized Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, similar to the model of Petrobras, PETRONAS, and Saudi ARAMCO,” the statement said.
“The passage of the Petroleum Industry Act and the patriotic and courageous signing of it by President Buhari effectively disengage the government from running the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The highest decision-making body of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is the Board of Directors, which is chaired by a private individual not by the Minister of Petroleum as the case was before the PIA.
“The ideas of using one or two unprofitable parts of the Petroleum sector in the downstream sector as a basis for the call for the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is intellectually simplistic, clear lack of knowledge, and understanding of the complex dynamics of the different sub-sectors of the Nigerian Petroleum sector, and the Crucial Role of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in the mix.
“The likes of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; former Governor of the Central Bank (CBN), who is also a former Emir of Kano, His Royal Majesty Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) should be reminded that Crude Oil Theft, global factors of Energy transition, declining Investments in fossil fuels businesses and Crude Oil Exploration and general official corruption across the board in Nigeria has further deepened the crisis of Revenue.
“The cumulative challenges affecting NNPCL over the years, leading to all these mentioned issues is that its subsidiaries and service units had been subjected to undue political interference that has compromised its functionality but thanks to the Petroleum Industry Act.
“What the NNPC Limited need at this time, is the total reorganization of the company and its subsidiaries to function effectively with a clearer mandate, empowerment, and improved financial approval authority without undue political interference.
“As it is now, the NNPC Limited is been managed with a strong culture of corporate governance and career management manned by professionals, and the board of NNPCL is chaired by technocrats which infuse compliance with global best practices and competitiveness, responsibility, transparency, and accountability of all accruing revenue and expenditure in the national oil company.
“It is worthy to note, and for the record, to say there has been a paradigm shift by the Mele Kyari for ensuring that the audit of NNPC Limited and subsidiaries’ business and investment relationships, operations, financing, procurements are carried out and published at appropriate intervals.
“On a final note, the calling for the scrapping of the NNPC Limited should be enlightened that with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, the calls have become immaterial, the statement concluded.
