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Kachikwu

Buhari approved N640 billion oil contracts from his sick bed in London, NNPC chief Baru indicates

By: Bhodemarz on October 11, 2017 / comment : 0 , , , ,

President Muhammadu Buhari was granting approvals for oil deals to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation during the time he was on his sick bed in London – and when he had relinquished presidential powers to his Vice President – the head, Maikanti Baru, has indicated.
Mr. Baru said Mr. Buhari approved at least two separate oil contracts on July 10 and July 31 worth $1 billion and $780 million, respectively.
The N640.8 billion contracts (at N360/$ exchange rate) were approved when Mr. Buhari was receiving treatment for undisclosed ailments in London, and when he was not supposed to be exercising presidential powers, having named Vice President Yemi Osinbajo acting president in a formal correspondence to the National Assembly.
Mr. Buhari was flown to London on May 7, barely two months after he returned from his first 2017 medical vacation which saw him spend 50 days in the United Kingdom.
On May 9, a letter Mr. Buhari wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate notifying them that he had relinquished presidential authorities in accordance with the Nigerian Constitution was read on the floor of both chambers.
Despite rumours of his early return, Mr. Buhari ultimately spent 103 days receiving treatment in London, returning on August 19.
On August 21, the president notified the National Assembly of his return in writing, saying he had “resumed” his “functions as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with effect from Monday, 21st August, 2017.”
THE CONTRACTS
But on Monday, Mr. Baru revealed that Mr. Buhari had been exercising presidential powers by granting approvals for NNPC joint venture contracts when he was supposedly on his sickbed and not exercising presidential powers.
Mr. Baru gave details of the contracts as follows:
Search:
S/N
PROJECT
Amount (US$mn)
APPROVALS

LOAN EXECUTED BY
NTB
PRESIDENTIAL
TOTAL
2980
1.
NNPC/CNL JV Project Cheetah
1200
16/04/15
01/09/15
Dr. E. I. Kachikwu
2.
NNPC/CNL JV Project Falcon
780
26/04/17
31/07/17
Dr. M. K. Baru
3.
NNPC/SPDC JV Project Santolina
1000
26/04/17
10/07/17
Dr. M. K. Baru
Showing 1 to 5 of 5 entries

(CNL refers to Chevron Nigeria Limited, SPDC to Shell Petroleum Development Company and JV to Joint Venture).
The disclosures were made when the NNPC responded – on behalf of Mr. Baru – to the allegations of contract fraud and insubordination raised by Ibe Kachikwu.
Mr. Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, had in an August 30 memo to Mr. Buhari said Mr. Baru unilaterally approved contracts without recourse to him or the NNPC board, amongst other concerns. The memo surfaced on social media on October 3, sending ripples through the country’s polity.
On October 9, the NNPC responded to Mr. Kachikwu’s allegations by publishing the above contract details, which it said was at the instance of Mr. Buhari, who had kept mum since the scandal broke.
But a look at the dates of the three contracts shows that two of them received presidential approval on dates Mr. Buhari was not in the country, July 31 for the second contract with Chevron Nigeria and July 10 for the contract with Shell. Mr. Baru’s name was placed against the contracts as the person who administered the contract in his capacity as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC.
Only the September 1, 2015, contract which Mr. Kachikwu oversaw during his tenure as the GMD of NNPC received presidential approval on a date Mr. Buhari was in the country and wielding presidential powers.
A compilation of Mr. Buhari’s travels reveals that he was in the country from early August 2015 when he returned from Cotonou until September 7 when he visited Accra.
But while it is clear that the presidential approval granted when Mr. Kachikwu was the head of NNPC happened when Mr. Buhari was exercising presidential powers; it appeared like Mr. Baru received his approval when Mr. Buhari was in London.
GETTING OSINBAJO’S CONSENT
In his memo to Mr. Buhari, Mr. Kachikwu stated that when Mr. Buhari was unwell in London for several months between May and August, Mr. Baru tried to get direct approval from Acting President Osinbajo for some personnel changes at the NNPC.
But Mr. Osinbajo asked Mr. Baru to go back to Mr. Kachikwu and get his input and approval first before making the changes. Mr. Baru refused to consult Mr. Kachikwu on that.
For weeks, the changes were not made, until Mr. Buhari returned on August 19. By August 29, Mr. Baru announced the changes.
This prompted Mr. Kachikwu’s letter to the president on August 30, complaining that he learnt of the development in the media.
Sources at the presidency corroborated Mr. Kachikwu’s claim that Mr. Osinbajo rebuffed Mr. Baru’s attempts to get presidential approval behind Mr. Kachikwu.
Neither the vice president’s office nor Mr. Baru also denied that claim by Mr. Kachikwu.
It is not immediately clear if Mr. Baru also attempted to get approval for the multi-billion dollar contracts from Mr. Osinbajo. But presidency sources said it was unlikely that Mr. Osinbajo, who did not allow Mr. Baru to make personnel changes, would allow the NNPC GMD to circumvent Mr. Kachikwu with such high-profile contracts.
Ndu Ughamadu, spokesperson for the NNPC, would not confirm or deny if Mr. Baru got the approval from Mr. Buhari in London.
“Presidential approval is presidential approval,” Mr. Ughamadu said.
When PREMIUM TIMES reminded him of potential legal implications of Mr. Buhari exercising presidential powers even when he had relinquished same in accordance with the constitution, Mr. Ughamadu dug his heels in.
“Presidential approval is presidential approval,” the spokesperson insisted.
For several hours on Tuesday, presidential spokespersons Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ requests seeking their comments about this and other problematic parts of the NNPC revelations.
Sola Adebawo, Director of Communications at Chevron, did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ requests for comments Tuesday evening. His counterpart at Shell Nigeria, Bamidele Odugbesan, simply told PREMIUM TIMES to “direct enquiries to relevant government authorities.”
Yet, the N640.8 billion oil contracts might not be the only one Mr. Baru got Mr. Buhari to approve while he was still unwell in London.
For instance, the NNPC announced on February 2 ‎that it received 128 bids from local and international firms willing to participate in its 2017-2018 Direct-Sale–Direct-Purchase crude programme, which was adopted by the Buhari administration last year to replace the crude oil swap initiative and the offshore processing arrangement.
Mr. Buhari was not around in on February 2 when the announcement was made, having been flown to London on January 19 for his first medical trip of the year. He didn’t return to the country until March.
On May 19, when NNPC sources told Daily Trust and a few other media houses that it had finally entered into a $6 billion deal with 10 companies for 2017-2018 edition of DSDP contracts, Mr. Buhari was also not in the country.‎
The NNPC spokesperson declined comments about DSDP contracts.
LEGAL EXPERT WEIGHS IN
Mr. Kachikwu previously doubled as the Minister of State for Petroleum and GMD of NNPC until he was relieved of the latter post by Mr. Buhari on June 4, 2016, same day Mr. Baru was named as a replacement.
When Mr. Buhari named Mr. Baru the GMD, he made Mr. Kachikwu the chairman of the NNPC board.
The NNPC Act designates the board to oversee the affairs of the state-owned oil giant.
The Act states that the Minister of Petroleum must be the chairman of the NNPC board. Mr. Buhari is the substantive Minister of Petroleum. But he is allowed by the NNPC law to delegate powers, including chairmanship of the board.
However, the law also allows Mr. Buhari to act concurrently as the chairman of NNPC board even while the appointment of the person he delegated powers to is still valid.
Legal analyst, Liborous Oshoma, said the president’s action may be “unprocedural” but might not be entirely illegal.”
“This is similar to what we have witnessed since the president was away yet he was still issuing presidential statements and taking calls from President Donald Trump and other presidents to discuss matters concerning Nigeria.
“All that happened despite the fact that we had an acting president in place and Nigerians raised concerns at the time,” Mr. Oshoma said.
He said Mr. Buhari might not be in a good state of mind when the presidential approvals were procured and their validity could be challenged in court.
“The contracts could be challenged and possibly rendered invalid by the courts because he didn’t have presidential powers at the time he was exercising same,” Mr. Oshoma added. “The acting president ought to have approved those contracts because no one knew what state of mind the president was at the time.”

Source: premiumtimesng.com


SHOCKER! Kachikwu submitted letter to Buhari only AFTER media leak

By: Bhodemarz on October 11, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, submitted his controversial memo to the office of President Muhammadu Buhari only after it was leaked to the media, TheCable can report.
Whereas the letter — dated August 30, 2017 — leaked on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, he submitted it only on Thursday, October 5.
Buhari was said to have been surprised that he had not seen a letter supposedly written to him before it appeared in the media. He immediately raised an internal query on its whereabouts.
It was initially thought to be a fake letter by presidency until the ministry of state for petroleum resources confirmed it was written by Kachikwu in a press statement on October 4.
The registry of the chief of staff, which takes delivery of official mails for the president, denied receiving any such letter from the minister.
In standard public sector practice, all incoming mails are stamped “received” with date, time and signature of the receiving clerk all recorded. An acknowledgement copy is then given to the sender.
Kachikwu was asked by presidency to provide an acknowledgment copy of his letter, TheCable understands, but he said he could not find it, further fuelling internal suspicion that there was a political slant to the controversy.
ONLINE VERSION
He was then directed to submit another copy, which was received and stamped “received” on October 5.
However, the formatting of the letter he submitted on Thursday was different from what was circulated in the media, although the substance is the same.
In the new copy, the last paragraph on the opening page had four lines, whereas there were only two lines in the internet version with the other two lines “jumping” into the second page, TheCable learnt.
On page 6, the subheading of the first paragraph was “STOP” — but this was not in the online version.
It was also said that his story became inconsistent along the line.
In the fresh copy Kachikwu sent to the office of the president on October 5, he wrote in the covering note that he was “re-sending” what he had earlier sent “to the registry of the chief of staff”, but TheCable understands that when he was asked at a security meeting on Tuesday, he said he actually sent the letter to Daura, where the president had gone for the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.
NO MEETING
The president does not have official mail receiving facility in his hometown but sources said Kachikwu might have requested someone to hand-deliver it to him and the courier might have failed to do so.
Kachikwu, who complained in his memo about insubordination and humiliation by the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, in the widely publicised letter, was at the presidential villa on Friday, October 6 — ostensibly for a meeting with the Buhari.
Although it was reported in the media, TheCable inclusive, that he met with Buhari that day, it has turned out no such meeting was held.
TheCable confirmed that he was only able to meet presidential aides and that was why there were no pictures with Buhari and he did not make any comments to the State House media on the visit.
However, an angry Buhari ordered Baru to reply Kachikwu’s letter through the media since that was also where he read the minister’s complaints.
Buhari, sources told TheCable, believes the letter was meant to embarrass him because as the petroleum minister, he, and not Kachikwu, has the supervisory function over NNPC.
CONTRACT AWARDS
Baru was specifically instructed to explain the contract-awarding process at the NNPC under the procedures established by Kachikwu himself when he was GMD.
The NNPC, in a statement by Ndu Ughamadu, the group general manager (group public affairs), on Monday denied Kachikwu’s allegations and maintained that no law had been broken in the contract awards, most of which were not on cash basis and could not be valued as done by the minister in the memo.
But the corporation was silent on the issue of key management appointments which Kachikwu complained were made without his knowledge.
Aso Rock insiders also dismissed Kachikwu’s claims that he was denied access to the president which he said forced him to write the memo.
“The president was away on medical leave from May 7 to August 19. While still settling in, he went to Daura for the Sallah break, and not longer after that he went for the UN general assembly,” a senior presidency official told TheCable.
“Kachikwu dated his letter August 30th. When was he prevented from seeing the president? Kachikwu had been doing a lot of travelling, from the Netherlands to Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Washington DC and other places all the while.”
TheCable tried to get in touch with Kachikwu but he did not pick his calls or respond to messages all throughout Tuesday.
However, an associate of the minister said Kachikwu was not responsible for the media leak, and that he made frantic efforts to stop the publication but it was too late.

Original piece by thecable.ng


Kachikwu Accuses Baru of Insurbodination, $24bn Contract Award Without Due Process

By: Bhodemarz on October 06, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

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.
Ever since Kachikwu was first appointed GMD of NNPC in 2015 and subsequently the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, there’s been no love lost between himself and Baru, who shortly after Kachikwu’s appointment as GMD, was promoted to the post of Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the corporation.
The relationship, THISDAY had exclusively reported last year, took a turn for the worse when Kachikwu reorganised NNPC in March 2016 and created five core divisions and 20 Autonomous Business units.
Baru, it was alleged, shortly after the restructuring undertaken by Kachikwu began a campaign and whipped up sentiments behind the scenes to get the minister removed from the post of GMD on the grounds that he should not be allowed to hold the posts of minister and NNPC boss simultaneously.
Indeed, stories were published by certain online media outlets and attributed to Baru alleging that Kachikwu had been removed several weeks before Buhari eventually approved the latter’s ouster as NNPC GMD in July 2016.
Having succeeded in getting Kachikwu removed, THISDAY learnt that Baru, with the collusion of top officials in the presidency, has done everything to undermine the minister who still doubles as the chairman of the NNPC board, effectively rendering him rudderless.
Attempts to get Baru to respond to the allegations made by Kachikwu in his letter to the president were unsuccessful Tuesday, as the GMD did not return calls and a text message sent to his phone.
When contacted, the spokesman of the corporation, Ndu Ughamadu, said NNPC had no response to the letter, as it was not addressed to the corporation.
In the letter to the president, which sources informed THISDAY was just a tip of the iceberg, 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 fell through since his return from the UK for medical reasons.
Kachikwu’s letter came to light on the social media and blogs just as the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos Tuesday delivered judgment in favour of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company Limited in a case between the company and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over the applicability of NIMASA levies.
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.
On the allegation being circulated by faceless blogs that he is anti-north, Kachikwu said all his appointments were generated with key inputs from all the COOs of NNPC and were balanced and based strictly on skills, experience, drive and ethnic balancing for senior management positions.
He stated that he is a detribalised Nigerian who grew up in Kano and had worked in various parts of the country.
According to him, he has no reason to be anti-north, as he has also found in his working career that good and skillful people abound everywhere in Nigeria.
He also denied the allegation of corruption being circulated by some blogs, stressing that all contracts awarded under his watch were based on merit, adding that he rarely participated in those contractual processes except to review them.
“Anyone peddling any contrary information is resorting to cheap blackmail,” he said.
Reacting to the allegation that he was in collusion with Niger Delta militants, Kachikwu reminded Buhari that the blueprint of all his engagements with the militants was discussed and approved by him (the president).
According to him, all the engagements with the militants was done in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President, DSS and NSA, adding that he took the issue of security headlong because it was the primary causative factor for oil production that declined from 2.2 million barrels per day to 1 million barrels per day in November 2016.
“I took on the issue of security headlong because it was the primary causative factor for production that declined from 2.2 mbpd to 1 mbpd at our lowest point (November 2016). At great risk to my life, I visited militant camps, coordinated with our security apparatus, organised the tour of the HEVP (His Excellency the Vice-President) to several frontline states and worked with PANDEF and other groups to bring calm and increase production and some measure of stability to what it is today.
“I have never betrayed the trust that you placed on me. I did not deploy any public financial resources to achieve the results of the Niger Delta region. Most times I have utilised my own personal resources and goodwill accumulated over the many years prior to my appointment to achieve these far-reaching results and of course, all these were coordinated with agencies of government (Office of the VP, DSS, NSA, etc).
“I dare mention that the blueprint of these engagements was discussed with and approved by you.
“Given the sensitivity of my position, I remain one of the most tracked officers of your government, so if there is any truth to these rumours, you would have known,” Kachikwu added.
The minister also urged the president to save the NNPC and the country’s oil and gas industry from collapse arising from non-transparent practices and empower the NNPC board to do the needful.
He pleaded with Buhari to save him from the humiliation and disrespect by compelling NNPC to submit to oversight regulatory mandate and supervision, which he is supposed to manage on behalf of the president.
Kachikwu also wants the president to order the suspension of the recent appointments and promotions in NNPC until he and the NNPC board have made their inputs, noting that this would send a clear signal of process and transparency.
He also asked the president to encourage joint presentation meetings by the heads of parastatals and himself to Buhari in order to foster a culture of working together and implant discipline in the hierarchy.
When contacted to verify the authenticity of the letter, a statement from the Director of Press in the Ministry of Petroleum, Mr. Idang Alibi, confirmed the minister’s letter to the president.
He said in the statement that the letter was part of procedures often adopted to address developments in the ministry.
He stated: “The attention of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has been drawn to a publication on a memo emanating from the HMSPR to the president.
“Please note the following: The communication under reference is a normal procedural correspondence by the minister to the president relating to developments in parastatals under his supervision.
“It is most distressing to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that a confidential communication to the president on the performance of one of its parastatals can be made public.
“The focus of the communication was on improving efficiency and deepening transparency in the oil and gas sector for continued investor confidence. It is noteworthy that the president has been fully supportive of the efforts of the ministry to entrench good governance and accountability in the oil and gas sector.

“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources remains focused on achieving measurable progress in the implementation of the ongoing oil sector reforms in line with the mandate of the president,” it stated.

Source: www.thisdaylive.com
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