The Senate on Thursday threw its weight behind the decision of Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in the reorganisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
It said the action of Kachikwu was in the best interest of the NNPC and the country.
The Chairman of the Joint Committee on Upstream, Downstream and Gas, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who briefed the newsmen after the closed door session with the Minister over the reorganisation, said Kachikwu’s decision was in the best interest of NNPC for better performance.
According to Alasoadura: “We are convinced that no part of NNPC Act was contravened by the action of the Minister.
“We are satisfied with the reorganisation.
“The reorganisation will put an end to losing of $30 million monthly by the Corporation.”
Alasoadura explained that the reorganisation will compel everyone in the organisation to work for his or her monthly pay.
On the breaching of the NNPC Act, the Committee was convinced that Kachikwu was on the right path.
The NNPC Act, Part 1 states in part: “It shall be the duty of the Corporation, from time to time, when the National Council of Ministers so requires or the Corporation considers it appropriate to undertake a general review of the affairs of the Corporation and of any subsidiaries thereof for the purpose of determining how the management of the activities of the Corporation or any subsidiary thereof can most efficiently be organised and, where appropriate, to make a report to the National Council of Ministers upon the Corporation’s conclusions arising from the review.
“6.(1)The Corporation shall have powers to do anything which in its opinion is calculated to facilitate the carrying out of its duties under this Act including, without limiting the generality of the following, the power –
“(a) to hold, manage and alienate movable and immovable property;
“(b) to purchase or otherwise acquire or take over all or any of the assets, businesses, properties, privileges, contracts, rights, obligations and liabilities of any other company, firm or person in furtherance of any business engaged in by the Corporation;
“(c) to enter into contracts or partnerships with any company, firm or person which in the opinion of the Corporation will facilitate the discharge of the said duties under this Act;
“(d) to establish and maintain subsidiaries for the discharge of such functions as the Corporation may determine; and
“(e) to train managerial, technical and such other staff for the purpose of the running of its operations and for the petroleum industry in general.(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, any contract relating to any project of a value of more than N5,000,000 (or such higher limit as may be directed from time to time by the National Council of Ministers) shall be referred by the Corporation to the National Council of Ministers for approval before the award of any such contract is made by the Corporation.”
Speaking earlier, Kachikwu said he was misunderstood on the issue of unbundling the NNPC.
Kachikwu said the amount of existing properties in Nigeria is mind blowing and the oil sector is trying to move at a very fast pace.
He said there were about 17 subsidiaries in the system, with some active because they were in the public space.
He added that the pipeline and the depot aspect of the business were drowning the business.
He said: “I may have been misunderstood but it won’t be business as usual.
“We will create new career paths and accountability for people.
“We are going into a threshold where the majors are turning into a major focus.
“When I fist joined, I set up 20 teams that dealt with 20 fixes.
“I have issued about 10,000 podcasts explaining what we are doing and where we are headed.
“We are moving at a very fast pace.
“I worked on this issue with the President and we kept it as confidential as we could.”
Some lawmakers at the meeting pledged their support for what Kachikwu had done.
Senator Sola Adeyeye (APC-Osun), however, said if what Kachikwu had done was unbundling, then he has broken a law.
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