President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the appointment of Executive Vice Chairman of ExxonMobil Africa, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, as Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
This however did not come without some high level political horse trading.
It was gathered that Kachikwu was the candidate of the biggest private players in the sector; the controllers of Nigeria’s hydro-carbon industry.
Kachikwu was introduced to Buhari by a group of oil block owners that comprise of former President Ibrahim Babangida, Nuel Ojei and Gen Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) before the elections. It was not their first try though.
Around 2013, the triumvirate met with then President Goodluck Jonathan and made him a proposal: accept Dr Kachikwu as Petroleum Minister in place of Deziani Alison-Madueke and they would back him maximally in the 2015 elections.
The negotiations dragged on and finally collapsed when President Jonathan called it off.
Then as the 2015 elections loomed and Buhari’s campaign had to contend with serious financial constraints, he turned to Gen. T. Y. Danjuma for help.
Danjuma invited his friends, Babangida and Nuel Ojei for a meeting where a decision was taken to present their botched plan with Jonathan to Buhari.
Buhari accepted to give them the position of the petroleum minister as a reward for their funding.
Thereafter billions of Naira flowed into the Buhari campaign. Indeed the group also contributed to the Jonathan campaign.
After Buhari’s inauguration, the triumvirate met him with their candidate in attendance.
Sources said that Buhari announced to the group a slight change in the plan.
According to the source, he told them that a group he referred to as “my people” would not agree to cede the position to them as originally planned.
Danjuma was left fuming and was said to have challenged Buhari to be the man he claims to be by keeping to the original agreement.
The President offered the GMD’s position which was flatly rejected. To juice up his offer, he promised both the GMD and minister of state, petroleum. Danjuma was said to have pointed out the sheer clumsiness of the proposal.
It was learnt that was the point IBB took over a mediatory role. It was not clear at press time if the additional offer of minister of state, petroleum was still on the table.
Kachikwu, a respected operator in the industry owes his rise in the industry to his beautiful mind and an array of godfathers in the industry.
Nuel Ojei is the Delta State born oil industry player who came into untold riches when IBB was president.
Even though, Buhari has repeatedly restated his readiness to fight vested interest, the latest appointment simply goes to show how those interests could easily overwhelm.
Kachikwu hails from Onicha-Ugbo in Delta State and a First Class Graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the Nigerian Law School.
The new NNPC Chief Executive also has Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Law from Harvard Law School.- Nigerian Times USA.
We need proof please.
Don’t ask proof, please. This story is true. It was leaked immediately Kachikwu’s appointment was announced.
I agree with you. It is true.
It is not surprising. Otherwise Buhari must have had another Northerner in mind. This is a funny Nigeria.