Reconstitute NNPC board now, experts urge Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to immediately reconstitute the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and professionalise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

There has been speculation that Buhari will keep the Petroleum minister portfolio for himself in the new cabinet rather than trust anyone else with the ministry, which currently contributes over 80 per cent of the country’s revenue.

The immediate past President, International Association for Energy Economics and Director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Wumi Iledare, said, “If it (the speculation) is true, he will need a team of dynamic, energetic, trustworthy, erudite and intelligent special advisers and assistants.

 

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“In fact, he must, as a matter of urgency, reconstitute the NNPC board with no political appointees and must put round pegs in round holes in the corporation as mandated in the NNPC Act of 1977.

Iledare, who is also a Professor Emeritus at the Centre for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, United States, said the President could take a cue from the new thinking in Saudi Aramco, adding that all the agencies in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources must be manned by competent hands with no political godfathers.

“He (Buhari) must professionalise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as soon as possible. I will be glad to recommend many qualified people to him. Otherwise, it will be foolhardy to take that responsibility in addition to the complex macroeconomic issues he has on his hands,” Iledare said.

The Director, Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, said the level of powers conferred on the Minister of Petroleum Resources was one of the issues that continued to dog the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.

He said such powers would hinder the effectiveness, efficiency and the speed of response of the NNPC to business development.

“There should be minimal interference of politics and political leadership in the normal operations of the corporation. This is important for the corporation to compete and innovate,” he added.

On what should be the structure of the NNPC post-PIB, Adenikinju said the corporation needed to be able to operate as a business concern, adding, “This implies that appointment of the chief executive officer should be based on merit with well stated performance contract that he/she will be held accountable to.”