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#2018Budget Nigeria’s revenue: Walking a tight rope by Adeola Yusuf

By: Bhodemarz on November 29, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

Basking in the euphoria of the $3.7 billion Alternative Financing Agreement, which it secured for oil in the last three years, the last Wednesday, raised the 2018 oil revenue projection to N38 billion.
Its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who said this at the 35th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos, maintained that Corporation, which secured the $3.7 billion deal on behalf of  government, had also set machinery in motion to achieve the revenue projection.
Securing external funding arrangement, he said, was crucial to sustaining oil and gas production in Nigeria and ensuring the survival of Nigeria’s energy future.
“Within the last three years, we have embarked on several successful alternative funding programmes to sustain and increase the national daily production and producibility,” Dr. Baru told delegates at the annual conference.
Breakdown of funding
According to the GMD, the $3.7 billion financing package included the $1.2 billion multi-year drilling financing package for 23 onshore and 13 offshore wells under NNPC/Chevron Nigeria Limited Joint Venture termed Project Cheetah and the $2.5billion alternative funding arrangements for NNPC/SPDC JV ($1Billion) termed Project Santolina; NNPC/CNL JV ($780million) termed Project Falcon as well as the NNPC/First E&P JV and Schlumberger Agreement ($700million).
Project Cheetah is expected to increase crude oil production by 41,000bopd and 127Mmscfd with a Government-take of $6billion over the life of the Project.
Also, Projects Santolina, Falcon and the NNPC/First E&P JV and Schlumberger Funding Arrangement are expected to increase combined production of crude oil and condensate by 150,000bopd and 618MMscfd of gas with a combined Government-take of about $32Billion over the life of the Projects, Dr. Baru added.
He observed that evolving a new funding mechanism for the JV operations was a critical part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s far-reaching reforms aimed at eliminating cash call regime, enhancing efficiency and guaranteeing growth in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Alternate funding
Explaining further, Baru noted that as a result of the cash call underfunding challenge, which rose to about $1.2 billion in 2016 alone, NNPC and its JV partners began exploring alternative funding mechanisms that would allow the JV business finance itself in order to sustain and grow the business.
He added that with average JV cash call requirement of about $600 million a month, coupled with flat low budget levels over the past years, the budgeted volumes were hardly delivered.
“The truth is that it is difficult to deliver the volumes without adequate funding. The low volumes and by extension low revenues had resulted in the underfunding of the Industry by Government, which has stymied production growth,” he observed.
Today, with the new Alternative Funding Arrangement in place, JVs will now relieve government of the cash call burden by sourcing for funds for their operations (estimated at $7-$9 billion annually).
Baru, who spoke on the theme: “Review of the Current State of Funding for the Upstream Sector and the need for a New Policy Initiative,”commended NAPE for its contributions towards shaping the oil and gas landscape in Nigeria, said it was incumbent on NNPC to associate with such a professional body for the benefit of the nation.
“It is on record that key pieces of legislation such as the Marginal Fields Act and the Deepwater Fiscal Policies, the Nigerian Content Act, as well as the Unitization Policy were all based on templates that came out of previous NAPE Conferences,” he said.
Surmounting the roadblock
There are challenges to the realization of the projection and one of those who nshouldn know about this, a former GMD of NNPC, Funsho Kupolokun, called for fresh approaches such as the involvement of more indigenous participation to address the challenges of funding upstream operations in the country.
Expressing optimism that the revenue target could be met, Kupolokun maintained that participation of indigenous firms would go along way to guarantee success for the projections.
Similarly, the President of NAPE, Mr. Abiodun Adesanya, described the challenge of cash call as very critical because it affects all the objectives and targets of growing the reserves and increasing crude oil production in the country.
The Niger Delta question
The unrest in the Niger Delta has always been a major challenge to revenues projection by the government and as such, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has said that for a lasting peace to be achieved in the Niger Delta region, oil bearing communities must be involved in oil and gas exploitation in their areas.
The Minister made the assertion at the closing of the 2nd National Council on Hydrocarbons summit held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, noting that from a peak production of 2.35 million barrels per day recorded last year there was decline to 1.1 million barrels per day due to incessant vandalism.
However, Kachikwu observed that due to sustained engagements with the Niger Delta, production has ramped up to about 2.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) from 2016 crude oil production average of 1.85 mbpd.
From the horses’ mouth 
To address the challenges, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, Governor of Akwa Ibom State, one of the oil producing states, advocated for the establishment of the National Council on Hydrocarbons. This, he said, would help to address the crisis and agitations experienced in the oil and gas sector.
“I strongly believe that if we had a platform of this nature before now, where key players and stakeholders often converge to develop policy thrust to drive the industry, the crisis and agitations we have experienced in the sector would have long been addressed,” he said.
He said it was wrong for some Federal Agencies as well as some oil companies to carry out some interventionists’ projects without consulting the State Government or its agencies.
“This kind of action usually engenders mistrust, generates restiveness, which is not helpful in ensuring smooth operations of the industry,” he stressed.
For example, he said out of 2,198 names of youths from the Niger Delta region trained in welding and fabrication under the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the 107 names allocated to Akwa Ibom State, 26 of those youths were not from the State.
He equally noted with concern that despite pressure from all angles for the multinational oil companies to relocate their headquarters to Akwa Ibom State, nothing has been done.
“I think that the Federal Government should compel compliance of oil companies with immediate effect. Some of the oil companies operating in the region still neglect some vital processes of ensuring peace such as the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their host communities,” he said.
Last line
The Federal Government, nay NNPC, should rally all stakeholders to ensure that all obstacles to revenue projection are quashed. Only this could make the country savour all the benefit accruable from it crude recvenues.


Source: New Telegraph

NNPC, Chevron JV seal $1.7bn deal to boost crude oil, gas output

By: Bhodemarz on November 21, 2017 / comment : 0 , , , ,

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and its joint venture partner, Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, at the weekend executed the second and final phase of an alternative financing agreement, which the Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, said would help increase the country’s crude oil production by about 39,000 barrels per day.
Mr. Baru, who spoke in London at the formal signing of the agreement, said the arrangement would also help achieve ”an incremental peak production of about 283 million standard cubic feet per day, MMSCFD of gas.”
According to the GMD, the increased production capacity would spread “over the remaining life of the asset (until 2045).”
Out of the total cost about $1.7 billion, Mr. Baru said, the project, which is about 92 per cent completed, include a $780 million third-party funding.
When completed, the facility would produce natural gas liquids and condensate extracted from the Sonam and Okan fields located in oil mining leases OMLs 90 and 91 in the Niger Delta.
Mr. Baru described the deal as a step in the right direction, saying it would grow the nation’s daily production capacity and support the strategic domestic gas-to-power aspirations, while aligning with NNPC’s 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFAs).
He said the project would also include the completion of the Sonam non-associated gas, NAG, platform and Sonam living quarters platform; drilling of seven wells in the Sonam field and the Okan 30E NAG well, as well as the completion of the 20 inches by 32 kilometre Sonam pipeline and Okan pig receiver platform and development of the associated facilities.
The GMD said, ”the facilities at the moment were 100 per cent completed”, while the wells were 40 per cent executed.
In carrying out the project, the NNPC boss said the joint venture adopted a two-staged financing approach, involving the provision of $400 million in the first stage, sourced from Nigerian commercial banks, and financial closure achieved on August 1, 2017.
The second stage financing to provide another $380 million from International Commercial Banks, ICBs, was what was sealed at the weekend in London.
Out of the $780 million total financing deal for both stages, Chevron JV would be co-lending about $312 million, while the NNPC’s portion would be about $ 468million.
On the Alternative Financing approach, Mr. Baru explained that it was aimed at bridging NNPC’s shortfall in funding JV cash call obligations, including settlement of pre-2016 cash call arrears.
The arrangement would also enable full funding of NNPC’s JV obligations to restore investors’ confidence and stimulate further Foreign Direct Investments, FDIs in the industry.
Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director of CNL, Jeff Ewing, said his company supported the Federal Government’s aspirations to sustain oil and gas production.
“We know the important role gas supply to the domestic market plays in growing power generation. We also understand government’s need to seek alternative sources to fund profitable and bankable JV Projects”, Mr. Ewing added.
He commended the NNPC and other partners for backing the third party financing arrangement, which he said, would lessen cash call burden on the federation account.
Mr. Ewing expressed Chevron’s commitment to execute the programme safely and timely, to deliver the expected values for all stakeholders.
In August this year, two sets of alternative financing agreements on JV projects were executed between the NNPC/CNL JV (project Falcon) and the NNPC/SPDC JV (Project Santolina).
Both are aimed at boosting reserves and production in line with parts of the federal government’s aspirations for the Oil and Gas Industry.


Source: Premium Times

26 Companies express interest in revamping nation’s 3 refineries at $2 billion – Ibe Kachikwu

By: Bhodemarz on October 24, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, said on Tuesday that 26 firms have indicated their interest in the revamping of the nation’s three existing refineries.
Revamping the three refineries will require an investment of $2 billion.
Kachikwu said the nation was closed to finalising the process for private partners to revamp three existing refineries, which would lead to the production of 450,000 bpd.
“We are almost at a threshold of finalising the process of selection,” he said, adding that it could announce its selection by January or February.
The minister also said the Dangote refinery, with capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil being built in Nigeria is due to come onstream by the end of 2019.
“That should be enough to meet local needs,” Kachikwu told an oil and conference in Cape Town.
Reuters reports that the NNPC last year launched bidding to find partners to overhaul its ailing refineries, which hardly produce any petrol due to decades of mismanagement and widespread graft, leaving OPEC member Nigeria reliant on imported oil products.
The government has previously said it was in talks with Chevron, Total and ENI.
Kachikwu told reporters that Nigeria aimed to lift oil output in January to 1.8 million bpd from about 1.6 million to 1.7 million bpd now, but would not breach a ceiling agreed with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. “If we get to 1.8 (million), then we need to say ‘hey, close off the taps, because we need to comply,” he said.
He also said oil prices were now encouraging but OPEC had not ruled out further cuts to shore up the market.
“The market is balancing fast …. But do we need to see more cuts? We’ll see,” he said.
OPEC, Russia and other producers cut oil output by about 1.8 million bpd since January. The pact runs to March 2018, but they are considering extending it.


Source: Today.ng

NNPC: I approved loans not contracts, says Osinbajo

By: Bhodemarz on October 13, 2017 / comment : 0 , ,

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday clarified that what he approved for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation when President Muhammadu Buhari was away on medical vacation were financing loans and not contracts.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice-President made the clarification while answering reporters’ questions after the ground-breaking of the multi-billion naira Bonny-Bodo Road project, in Bonny, Rivers State.
Akande quoted Osinbajo as explaining that the approvals he granted to the NNPC while he was Acting President were for financing arrangements for the Joint Ventures between the corporation and IOCs, and not approvals for contracts.
“These were financing loans. Of course, you know what the Joint Ventures are, with the lOCs, like Chevron, that had to procure.
“In some cases, NNPC and their Joint Venture partners have to secure loans and they need authorisation to secure those loans while the President was away.
“The law actually provides for those authorisations. So I did grant two of them and those were presidential approvals, but they are specifically for financing joint ventures and they are loans not contracts,” Akande quoted the Vice-President as saying.

Source: punchng.com

The 25 Billion Dollar Palaver By Olusegun Adeniyi

By: Bhodemarz on October 13, 2017 / comment : 0 , , , ,

…I recall a particular episode when we were going to Saudi Arabia for the Third OPEC Summit, in November 2007. Before we left for the airport, someone had given me copy of a publication by a foreign website dedicated to oil and gas reporting. The publication detailed how oil lifting licences were given out by President Yar’Adua in a manner that lacked transparency. In the course of the flight, I scribbled a handwritten note, attached the document to it and went to hand it to him in his cabin.
Not long after, the president called me back and confirmed that all the information contained in the publication was accurate. It was at a time the president was holding on to the Energy Ministry portfolio. He said whenever we reached Saudi Arabia, I should meet the Minister for State for Energy, Mr Odein Ajumogobia and give him the document to read in my presence and let him know that I was acting on his instruction. He said I should listen to his comments and report back to him. He added that I should do the same to the GMD of NNPC, Eng. Abubakar Yar’Adua (not a relation of the president).
When we got to Riyadh, I acted as the president directed. I met the GMD first and he blamed everything on Ajumogobia and the president. When I later met Ajumogobia, he explained that he was powerless and that the GMD of NNPC had no regard for him since he was reporting directly to the president. He also agreed the report was accurate but that the said allocations were done between the president and the GMD.
I reported my “findings” back to the president who took time to explain his own role as well as the promoters of some of the “briefcase companies” on the list. They were prominent people in the society, including those who had held senior positions in government in the past. The president also debunked the charges by both Ajumogobia and the GMD by explaining the role each played in the matter. What was, however, not in doubt, even from the president’s explanation was that the GMD was indeed bypassing Ajumogobia because he had direct access to the president. This to me was not right. With my background in the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), a governing body to which I had been appointed by President Obasanjo in 2004, I was able to offer candid advice which the president promised to heed. When we returned, he indeed directed the GMD to be reporting directly to Ajumogobia but not long after, (Dr Rilwan) Lukman took charge of affairs in the ministry and the equation changed…
=============================================
In view of the controversy generated by a recent letter to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, the foregoing excerpts from my book, ‘Power, Politics and Death’ is instructive. It is also a clear indication that the power struggle between Kachikwu and the GMD of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru is not new. Except you are Diezani Alison-Madueke, (the first, and to date only, sole administrator ever to superintend Nigeria’s oil and gas sector), it is difficult to compel the GMD of NNPC (who has enormous powers of patronage) to report to anybody other than the president.
Thanks to Mrs Oby Ezekwesili who nominated me as representative of the media and President Obasanjo who, to my surprise, approved the appointment, the best education I had going to my job as spokesman to the president in 2007 was my almost four-year experience as a member of the founding NEITI National Stakeholder Working Group. It is also for that reason that I am not carried away by Kachikwu’s allegations or the self-indicting rebuttal by Baru. When it comes to our petroleum sector where the more you look the less you see, I prefer to keep my own counsel.
However, to the extent that serious questions that border on transparency and accountability have been raised by Kachikwu, I hope the president will not treat the matter with deodorant as he did with the report on the ‘grass-cutter’. What the scandal suggests is that for an administration that claims to be fighting corruption, there is no preventive mechanism in place to enthrone any systemic change. In fact, it would seem that this administration has a narrow concept of corruption which is why so much energy is being expended on the retail side while the greater corruption–lack of adherence to the rule of law and due process–which, stripped of all pretensions, is what this scandal is all about, is largely ignored.
If he can wriggle out of the constitutional implications of signing approvals at a period he had ceded powers to his vice president, as it is now being alleged, I hope President Buhari will use this opportunity to identify and fix the gaps that have been exploited in NNPC and perhaps all such other entities. And there is no better way to do that than to order an independent review of all the contracts awarded by the corporation from June 2015 to date. I limit the scope to his period in office so it doesn’t become another weapon to which-hunt his immediate predecessor.
Meanwhile, even though this scandal may not be about any stolen money, I am almost certain that if it were under President Goodluck Jonathan, the APC propaganda machine would by now be on overdrive in telling Nigerians about “how the billions of dollars were shared and who got what”. That is why I am disappointed that nobody in the opposition is making life difficult for those who are notorious for spinning any and every untruth to score cheap political points.
Now, I am sure there will be some claims to a competitive bidding process in the awards of the oil contracts. Yes, it is true that the NNPC invites some stakeholders to witness such contracts bid openings. But as the Yoruba people would say, it takes no magic to put a lump of meat in the mouth and make it disappear. The bottomline is that the NNPC is, and has always been, opaque in its dealings because it has so many things to hide for the federal government, especially regarding the management of the federation account that statutorily belongs to the three tiers of government.
In all the foregoing, what saddens is that the NEITI has provisions that should have helped in detecting some of the breaches being alleged at the NNPC. The question for this administration therefore is: Does the President know and care about the instrument he has in NEITI?
I believe the president should use this crisis to remove the incentive for corruption in the national oil company and clean up the sector by investing in systems that pass the smell test. The passage of the key components of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is key in that direction even as I also enjoin President Buhari to inaugurate the Procurement Council as required in the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Act so that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) can stop awarding contracts. Incidentally, this is one of the many promises in the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign document.
All said, the only way President Buhari can redeem his vanishing credibility is to launch a bold deregulation agenda for the petroleum sector and as a first move, he should immediately relinquish the position of Minister of Petroleum and withdraw his Chief of Staff from the NNPC Board. It was, and still remains, a needless decision that runs counter to the enthronement of good corporate governance in such a critical sector.

Original piece by thisdaylive.com

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


Nigeria: The cash cow of the sacred cows, by Ademola Adeoye

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

The ongoing imbroglio engendered by Dr. Kachikwu and Mr. Baru as an effect of the archaic and ineffective leadership chic of Mr. President should set every well-meaning Nigerian into cavernous and deep thinking. It is so easy (for those who understand how the civil service systems are being run in our clime) to know that no one can quickly see the bottom of a dirty and deep sea the way the bottom of a flowing stream can be seen. The truth is, the NNPC is still the cash cow of a few sacred cows and it would forlornly and dejectedly remain so until the strong wind of true change blows through the length and breadth of our greatly valued nation.
When I woke up in the wee hours of today, being the 10th of October, 2017, while still yawning and stretching my arms and legs, I heard that the presidency backs Mr. Baru’s response to Dr. Kachikwu’s clear allegations; I opened my mouth wide as river Jordan during a raining season. It is clear as water that Baru is the voice, arm and leg of Mr. President in the NNPC. But one question I have been asking myself and every non-partisan Nigerian is this: “is it that Dr. Kachikwu (at his level) did not know what he was saying through the leaked memo? Why would he play to the gallery? Why would he lie? When the contract proposals in contention were taken to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for an approval, where was Kachikwu, because only supervising ministers are allowed to get that done?” What I do know is that what is lurking in a corner today shall surely end up dancing naked in the market at noon time in the days to come.
Before I lay this issue to the final rest, I have a few thoughts to pass on to Mr. President: One, the law that makes it faulty and incorrect for a Group Managing Director to be accountable to a Minister of State and someone who heads the Board of same organization is an insensitive one and I strongly opine that it should be amended. Two, when Mr. President took ill and was flown abroad, who precisely was acting as the Petroleum Minister? I advise that President Muhammadu Buhari should step down and appoint someone he trusts as the substantive Petroleum Minister, so as not to lose the modicum and ounce of trust that he has left. Nigerians do not trust him as much as they did before he assumed the highest leadership position in our dear country. He should not let those professional politicians—who surround him for what to eat lie to him. Personally, my perspective on Mr. President has changed. I now see him more of a sectional leader than a national one. And what Nigeria needs now is someone—who can galvanize all of us, not further divide us. Currently, Nigeria is heavily divided under the watch of Mr. President and it’s quite very sad.
This is where I am coming. I see Nigeria as the cash cow of a few sacred cows. How do I mean? Kindly follow my line of thinking. This is it: Many years ago, when China was grappling with her food crisis, the political elite were served the choicest and safest delicacies. They got hormones-free beef from the grass lands of inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow. And it was all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all-organic goods from farms working under the strictest guidelines. And the secured food supply stood in stark contrast to the frustrations of ordinary citizens who have faced recurring food scandals—vegetables with harmful pesticide residue, fish tainted with cancer-causing chemical eggs colored with industrial dye.
Additionally, the former Soviet Union’s ruling class also ate food that was unavailable to the masses. In North Korea, where withering famines have seen tens of thousands starve in those days, leader Kim Jong II was known for his love of lobster, shark’s fin soup and sushi. Food was unavailable to the masses, but the biggest sacred cow in the country was feeding fat—feeding fat at the expense of the people he was governing. It is the same story in every developing country today.
As it was in China, North Korea and former Soviet Union so it is in Nigeria. In the days of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), it only affected the led; it did not affect the leaders a hoot. From 1960 till this moment that I am penning this article, no economic policy has ever affected the sacred cows adversely, it is the masses—who do bear the brunt of it all. And the sacred cows I am talking about are untouchables, though President Buhari politically said that all past and current corrupt officials—who have illegally obtained monies meant for the good of the masses will not be spared as the anti-corruption agencies have been re-positioned to undertake the legal battle against them. Over the years, how many sacred cows, who daily use Nigeria as their cash cows have been thrown to jail? Since the crisis began in our dear country, many States cannot pay their workers, but all our political leaders have been smiling to the bank, including Mr. President and his vice!
Natural resources become a curse when the citizens are not treated with justice, fairness and equity. A nation like Nigeria that is heavily rich in natural resources is full of poor citizens. Natural resources, rather than contributing to freedom, broadly shared growth, and social peace, are now bringing poverty, power-outage, bad roads, misery, and insecurity to us as a people.
As I round off for today, the cash cow is still being kept as ‘one’ today, not because the sacred cows like it, but because they are yet to have their fills. In any nation where the country becomes the cash cow of a few sacred cows, the law the binds the poor will always set the rich free.


Source: thecable.ng
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