The apex socio-political organisation for the Igbo, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the recent reorganisation at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the interest of peace, unity and good governance.
Ohanaeze decried in a statement by its President-General, Chief John Nwodo, in Abuja on Sunday, the consistent and unrepentant display of disdain for the South-East by the Buhari administration as displayed in the recent reorganisation at the NNPC.
The apex body said it had thought that after the President’s declaration, in a broadcast recently, that Nigeria unity had been settled and not negotiable, that he would take all necessary actions to achieve pronouncement, lamenting that the recent NNPC shakeup had not shown that the administration was walking its talk.
Nwodo contended that the recent appointments of mangers in the NNPC clearly favoured the North with the South-East totally ignored, adding that this trend had been the case since Buhari assumed power.
It argued that this scenario was not intended to achieve the desired cohesion in an already fragmented nation.
Nwodo said, “This brazen disregard, marginalisation and non-compliance with the federal character provisions in our constitution are the causes of lack of confidence which our youths have opposed in our present governance structure.
“As long as President Buhari continues to live out his speech abroad that his government will favour those who voted 97 per cent for him against those who voted five per cent for him, so long will the dissatisfaction and unrest in our polity subsist.”
The former minister of information added, “There is no oil well anywhere in northern Nigeria. Four of the five states in the South-East have proven oil resources, some of which provide our nation’s revenue; yet our people are not found fit to be adequately represented in a key corporate institution like the NNPC.
“Ohanaeze is therefore urging the President to revisit this recent reorganisation in the NNPC in the name of God and in the spirit of the ongoing festivity and the promotion of unity and good governance.”
The NNPC had, on Tuesday, announced the reorganisation of its management staff in a major shakeup that affected 55 top managers.
The NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, said the new appointments would not only help to reposition the corporation for the challenges ahead but help fill the gaps created by statutory retirement of some officers.
Under the new arrangement, Roland Ewubare, formerly the Managing Director of the Integrated Data Services Limited, was moved to the National Petroleum Investment Management Services as the new Group General Manager, while Diepriye Tariah, the former GGM and senior technical assistant to the NNPC’s GMD, took over from Ewubare as the MD of the IDSL.
The Executive Director, Operations, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, Malami Shehu, was appointed the Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, while Adewale Ladenegan, former MD of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, was moved to the KRPC as MD.
In the same vein, Muhammed Abah, until recently, the Executive Director, Operations of the WRPC, succeeded Ladenegan as the MD of the WRPC.
With the retirement of Farouk Ahmed as the MD of the Nigerian Products Marketing Company, Umar Ajiya, the former GGM in charge of Corporate Planning and Strategy, was named the MD of the NPMC while Bala Wunti, formerly the General Manager, Downstream at the GMD’s office took charge as the GGM, CP&S, a statement by the NNPC said.
The statement by the spokesman for the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, also showed that Usman Yusuf was made the GGM/STA to the GMD; Adeyemi Adetunji was confirmed as the MD of the NNPC Retail, while Dr. Bola Afolabi was named as the GGM, Research and Development Division of the corporation.
Ahmadu Katagum was appointed the GGM, Shipping, in the Downstream Autonomous Business Unit, while Kallamu Abdullahi was made the GGM in charge of the Renewable Energy Division in the Downstream ABU.
Shaibu Musa was promoted to the position of the MD of the NNPC’s Medical Services Limited, just as Ibrahim Birma was appointed the new GGM in charge of the corporation’s Audit Division, which was renamed Governance, Risk and Compliance Division.
