Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has voiced his frustrations over what he claimed are “disrespectful and humiliating conducts” by the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Maikanti Baru.
In a letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari on August 30, Kachikwu who also revealed that it has become difficult for him to even secure an appointment to see the President, said but for challenges posed by the GMD, he would have consolidate don the measurable progress achieved since he was appointed Minister of State.
According to Kachikwu, the recent massive reorganisation within the NNPC was carried out by Baru without his input despite his being Minister of State and Chairman NNPC Board.
“The Board of NNPC which you appointed and, which has met every month since its inauguration and, which by the statues of NNPC is meant to review these planned appointments and postings, was never briefed. Members of the Board learnt of these appointments from pages of social media and press release of NNPC,” Kachikwu revealed in his memo.
The Minister of State also expressed the pains he has had to bear since Baru’s appointment, noting to the President that “it is in the spirit of service and absolute belief in your leadership and integrity that I have, after one year of tolerating these deisrespectful and humikliating conducts by the GMD, decided to bring these to your attention.”
Kachikwu then appelaed to Buhari to save his office (Minister of State, Petroleum) from “further humiliation and disrespect by compelling all Parastatals to submit to oversight regualtory mandate and proper supervision which I am supposed to managed on your behalf.”
He also asked that the GMD be instructed to effectively leave NNPC to run as a proper institution and report along due process lines to the Board.
Meanwhile, in another twist to the development, Kachikwu’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources has described the memo as “a normal procedural correspondence relating to developments in parastatals.”
