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There were indications on Wednesday that Dr. Maikanti Kachalla Baru, the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), may be forced to quit his job soon following the alleged roles he played in the use of the dividend of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited to fund fuel subsidy in the country.
There were mounting agitations by some concerned stakeholders for Baru to resign his job in the face of the alleged infractions committed in the use of the NLNG’s dividend to fund fuel subsidy and the $25 billion contract he allegedly awarded last year without due process.
Daily Independent learnt that a retired senior personnel of the state oil company, Farouk Ahmed, was being considered to replace Baru, especially as 2019 election draws close.
Regardless, operators said Baru had done well for the oil and gas sector since he assumed the role of Group Managing Director two years ago.
But spokesman of the corporation, Ndu Ughamadu, told Daily Independent that he was not aware of the plot to force his boss to quit his job.
He said, “All the actions the corporation took in that regard were in the national interest, with the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC).
“Also, all the actions were within the laws, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Act.”
Engineer Martin Onovo, a one-time presidential aspirant, told Daily Independent that the NNPC’s boss had no moral justification to continually superintend the affairs of the corporation, having drawn funds from the NLNG’s dividend and awarded $25 billion contract contrary to the NNPC Act and the laws of the land.
He added that the best thing was for Baru to quit in the face of the infractions with a view to allowing fresh air into the affairs of NNPC.
He expressed regrets that the NNPC had been turned into a cash crow by politicians and the thieving elite, adding that the media should be on its toes to bury the impunity by ensuring that Baru resigned his job as early as possible.
Last Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Gas said it uncovered a fresh illegal withdrawal of $1.15 billion from the dividend accounts of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas by the NNPC.
While going through the NLNG documents presented to it on Wednesday, the committee observed a series of cash debited from the account from November 2016 to June this year, totalling $2.201 billion.
The breakdown of the withdrawals not supported by required approving documents as observed by the committee are $86.5 million withdrawn from the account on November 22, 2016, allegedly being payment on Paris Club loans to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, and the $1.05 billion withdrawn on April 17, 2018, as National Fuel Support Fund.
Others are $650 million withdrawn from the account on June 7, this year, to offset the Joint Venture Cash Call by the NNPC which ordinarily was supposed to be a budget item payment, and $415.063 million withdrawn from the account, also in June, without clear explanation of the purpose for which it was meant.
Displeased with the series of withdrawals, the Senate panel ordered officials of the CBN and the NNPC, who represented their bosses, to forward to it, latest Tuesday next week, supporting and approving documents for the withdrawals.
Bassey Akpan, Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas said, “From the available documents before us, apart from the $1.05 billion that we are mandated by the Senate to investigate, we have also discovered that several withdrawals were made from the NLNG dividends account without the required supporting documents to back them.
“This is unacceptable to us. We are also not happy that the GMD of NNPC and CBN governor are not here personally. We are, therefore, not going to continue with the session today.
“Both the NNPC and the CBN must furnish this committee with other relevant documents on the withdrawals latest by Tuesday next week and the NNPC GMD, the Corporation’s Group Executive Director, Finance, Isiaka Abdulrasak, and the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, must also appear before us.”
Akpan said a document tagged, ‘Memo, NNPC GMD 49’ signed by Baru and sent through the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, “had no clear-cut language of a request for approval for the withdrawal of the $1.05 billion but a mere notification”.
He added: “Approval for withdrawal from such fund was supposed to be given by the National Economic Council, being an account or dividend owned by the three tiers of government.”
Baru had said in the memos to the president, which were repeated when he appeared before an ad hoc committee of the Senate on the alleged application of $3.5 billion by the NNPC, that the corporation’s decision to source funds to address PMS supply concerns was triggered off by the directive of the Senate at the height of the fuel scarcity crisis that the corporation must do all it could to address the scarcity problems.
He added that it was also because there had been no provision for subsidy in the budget since 2016.
“This necessitated actions from government and, of course, in line with the Federal Government’s directive which, of course, was equally endorsed by this distinguished National Assembly when during the hearing on the 24th of January 2018 on the fuel crisis, the joint committees of the National Assembly directed us, and I quote: ‘NNPC should do all it takes to flush the queue and restore normalcy and maintain the minimum of 30 days sufficiency’,” Baru said in his submission.
“For us to do that, we took certain actions, Mr. Chairman,” he added.
Baru said the $1.05 billion was being administered by a steering committee, comprising representatives of the Office of the Minister of Finance, Office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, the Petroleum Equalisation Funds Management Board, the Directorate of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which is the central approving body and a working committee that is looking at the daily operations of the fund. (Daily Independent)
There were mounting agitations by some concerned stakeholders for Baru to resign his job in the face of the alleged infractions committed in the use of the NLNG’s dividend to fund fuel subsidy and the $25 billion contract he allegedly awarded last year without due process.
Daily Independent learnt that a retired senior personnel of the state oil company, Farouk Ahmed, was being considered to replace Baru, especially as 2019 election draws close.
Regardless, operators said Baru had done well for the oil and gas sector since he assumed the role of Group Managing Director two years ago.
But spokesman of the corporation, Ndu Ughamadu, told Daily Independent that he was not aware of the plot to force his boss to quit his job.
He said, “All the actions the corporation took in that regard were in the national interest, with the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC).
“Also, all the actions were within the laws, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Act.”
Engineer Martin Onovo, a one-time presidential aspirant, told Daily Independent that the NNPC’s boss had no moral justification to continually superintend the affairs of the corporation, having drawn funds from the NLNG’s dividend and awarded $25 billion contract contrary to the NNPC Act and the laws of the land.
He added that the best thing was for Baru to quit in the face of the infractions with a view to allowing fresh air into the affairs of NNPC.
He expressed regrets that the NNPC had been turned into a cash crow by politicians and the thieving elite, adding that the media should be on its toes to bury the impunity by ensuring that Baru resigned his job as early as possible.
Last Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Gas said it uncovered a fresh illegal withdrawal of $1.15 billion from the dividend accounts of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas by the NNPC.
While going through the NLNG documents presented to it on Wednesday, the committee observed a series of cash debited from the account from November 2016 to June this year, totalling $2.201 billion.
The breakdown of the withdrawals not supported by required approving documents as observed by the committee are $86.5 million withdrawn from the account on November 22, 2016, allegedly being payment on Paris Club loans to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, and the $1.05 billion withdrawn on April 17, 2018, as National Fuel Support Fund.
Others are $650 million withdrawn from the account on June 7, this year, to offset the Joint Venture Cash Call by the NNPC which ordinarily was supposed to be a budget item payment, and $415.063 million withdrawn from the account, also in June, without clear explanation of the purpose for which it was meant.
Displeased with the series of withdrawals, the Senate panel ordered officials of the CBN and the NNPC, who represented their bosses, to forward to it, latest Tuesday next week, supporting and approving documents for the withdrawals.
Bassey Akpan, Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas said, “From the available documents before us, apart from the $1.05 billion that we are mandated by the Senate to investigate, we have also discovered that several withdrawals were made from the NLNG dividends account without the required supporting documents to back them.
“This is unacceptable to us. We are also not happy that the GMD of NNPC and CBN governor are not here personally. We are, therefore, not going to continue with the session today.
“Both the NNPC and the CBN must furnish this committee with other relevant documents on the withdrawals latest by Tuesday next week and the NNPC GMD, the Corporation’s Group Executive Director, Finance, Isiaka Abdulrasak, and the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, must also appear before us.”
Akpan said a document tagged, ‘Memo, NNPC GMD 49’ signed by Baru and sent through the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, “had no clear-cut language of a request for approval for the withdrawal of the $1.05 billion but a mere notification”.
He added: “Approval for withdrawal from such fund was supposed to be given by the National Economic Council, being an account or dividend owned by the three tiers of government.”
Baru had said in the memos to the president, which were repeated when he appeared before an ad hoc committee of the Senate on the alleged application of $3.5 billion by the NNPC, that the corporation’s decision to source funds to address PMS supply concerns was triggered off by the directive of the Senate at the height of the fuel scarcity crisis that the corporation must do all it could to address the scarcity problems.
He added that it was also because there had been no provision for subsidy in the budget since 2016.
“This necessitated actions from government and, of course, in line with the Federal Government’s directive which, of course, was equally endorsed by this distinguished National Assembly when during the hearing on the 24th of January 2018 on the fuel crisis, the joint committees of the National Assembly directed us, and I quote: ‘NNPC should do all it takes to flush the queue and restore normalcy and maintain the minimum of 30 days sufficiency’,” Baru said in his submission.
“For us to do that, we took certain actions, Mr. Chairman,” he added.
Baru said the $1.05 billion was being administered by a steering committee, comprising representatives of the Office of the Minister of Finance, Office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, the Petroleum Equalisation Funds Management Board, the Directorate of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which is the central approving body and a working committee that is looking at the daily operations of the fund. (Daily Independent)
