‘GMD’s response full of distortions’

David-West: minister’s claims wild

Loyalists find gaps in NNPC’s position


POSERS FOR BARU, BY KACHIKWU’S LOYALISTS


•What becomes of Sections 130(2), 148(1) of the Constitution and Section 1(1) of NNPC Act?
•How can the NNPC Tenders Board appointed by Baru be responsible for approving
contracts in the light of Section 20(1) of the Public Procurement Act?
•What is the proof that Kachikwu as NNPC GMD did what Baru is doing?
•How can NNPC Board oversee budget without information?
•Why was Baru silent on the controversial appointments he made without briefing the board?
•Are there standards of transparency and due process when NNPC awarded contracts of
that magnitude without carrying NNPC Board along?

The crisis of confidence in the oil sector raged on yesterday, with some associates of the Minister of State, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, taking on the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru.

Kachikwu wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that Baru

awarded $25billion contracts unilaterally;
ran a “bravado” management; and
made appointments without consultations.

Baru denied it all. He said no money was involved in the contracts and that the NNPC Tenders Board had no business reporting to Kachikwu and the corporation’s Board. The Presidency backed his position.

But Kachikwu’s “loyalists” have described Baru’s response as a potpourri of contradictions and distortions. To them, Baru’s and NNPC’s defence is “unconvincing”.

These verdicts were contained in a fact-sheet meant to clarify issues surrounding the disputed $25billion transactions by NNPC.

The Nation stumbled on the fact-sheet yesterday. It may have been prepared against the backdrop of NNPC’s Monday statement, which described Kachikwu as a “liar” with his August 30 memo to President.

The loyalists of the Minister raised six posers for Baru and NNPC to answer.

The six posers, based on the 1999 Constitution, the NNPC Act and the Public Procurement Act, are as follows:

What becomes of Section 130(2), Section 148(1) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 1(1) of the NNPC Act if Baru said he did not have to consult the Minister and NNPC Board?
How can the NNPC Tenders Board appointed by Baru be responsible for approving contracts in the light of Section 20(1) of the Public Procurement Act?
What is the proof that Kachikwu as NNPC GMD did the same things that Baru is doing?
How can NNPC Board oversee budget without information?
Why was Baru silent on the controversial appointments he made without briefing the board? Did the silence confirm that the appointments were irregular or wrong?
Are there standards of transparency and due process when NNPC awarded contracts of that magnitude without carrying NNPC Board along?

The fact-sheet reads in part: “While not joining issues, it will be worrisome if relevant section of Nigerians and keen watchers of oil and gas industry are not put through on the response of the NNPC GMD, Dr. Maikanti Baru on policies on public procurement as enshrined in the relevant laws and regulations governing procurement in Nigeria, which include Public Procurement Act 2007 and Procurement Procedures Manual.

“The Public Procurement Act 2007 provides procurement guidance to all Federal ministries, extra-ministerial agencies, departments, agencies, parastatals, corporations and other public entities set up by the constitution or Acts of the National Assembly and /or whose funding derives from the Federation Accounts, their own internally generated revenue, the Federation share of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and special allocations in the federal budget or being entities outside of the foregoing description, derive at least 35% of the funds appropriated or proposed to be appropriated for any type of procurement described in the Public Procurement Act 2007, which NNPC is one.

“The procurement Act 2007 borders on Efficiency, Fairness, Transparency, Accountability and Ethical Standards, and way and manner such procurement shall be conducted, and the entities like Tenders’ Board with powers to do.

“And any procurement system that fails to take into consideration these relevant sections stimulated hesitation to compete, submission of inflated tenders containing a risk premium, or submission of deflated tenders followed by delayed or defective performance, collusion in bribery, bad value for money, and betrayal and abuse of the public trust for personal gain.

“Dr. Kachikwu’s leaked memo to the President sought among other things, to promote application of fair and competitive standard and ethical practices.

“But in his public response to the private memo to the President, it is clear to all fair-minded persons that the attempt of the NNPC GMD, Dr. Maikanti Baru, to defend himself is unconvincing, clear embarrassment to the person of President Buhari, his dream of sanctified institutions, and our dear constitution.

“The public response to the issues raised in the leaked memo to the President is a potpourri of contradictions, distortions, and clear breach of facts and logic.”

The loyalists faulted Baru’s claim that he did not need to consult the Minister and the Board on the alleged $25billion transactions.

They asked the NNPC boss to be more forthcoming on his non-consultation of the Minister and the Board in respect to the provisions of sections 130(2) and148(1) of the 1999 Constitution, and Section 1(1) of the NNPC Act

The fact-sheet added: “The ministerial issue as viewed lacks substance. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (3rd alteration) is very clear on the powers of the President of the Federal Republic.

“By virtue of Section 130(2) of the Constitution, “the president shall be the Head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation,” and by virtue of Section 148(1) of the Constitution, ‘the president may, in his description, assign to the Vice-President or any Minister of the Government of the Federation responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation, including the administration of any department of government.’

“So by the enshrinement of that Section 148(1) above, and the supremacy of the Constitution, according to Section 1 sub-section (1), Baru’s submission as regards Kachikwu’s role as an appointed Minister by Mr. President is wrong, null, void and inconsistent with the constitution to the extent of its inconsistency.

“Again apart from the fact that every Board of parastatals, extra-ministerial or corporations etc. are the supervisory entities of such, the NNPC Act in Sections below are clear

“S. 1(1) says: ‘There shall be established a corporation by the name of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (hereinafter in the Act referred to as “the Corporation”) which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue or be sued in its corporate name.

(2) The affairs of the Corporation shall be conducted by a Board of Directors of the Corporation which shall consist of a Chairman and the following other members, that is (a) the Director-General, Federal Ministry of Finance and Economic Development;

(b) The Managing Director of the Corporation; and

(c) Three persons to be appointed by the National Council of Ministers, being persons who by reason of their ability, experience or specialised knowledge of the oil industry or of business or professional attain.”

“Sub-section (2) of the Act is clear that the NNPC Board has overall supervisory powers over the corporation. How can these supervisory powers not include some kind of oversight on contracts worth billions of dollars?”

The minister’s loyalists faulted Baru’s claim that the NNPC Tenders Board is the only legal body to approve contracts and not the NNPC Board.

The fact-sheet said: “Baru’s claim that the NNPC Tenders’ Board, not the NNPC Board, is the right body to approve such contracts in question is also false. According to Public Procurement Act’s Section below:

S.20. (1) The accounting officer of a procuring entity shall be the person charged with line supervision of the conduct of all procurement processes; in the case of ministries the Permanent Secretary and in the case of extra-ministerial departments and corporations the Director-General or officer of co-ordinate responsibility.

(2) The accounting officer of every procuring entity shall have overall responsibility for the planning of, organization of tenders, evaluation of tenders and execution of all procurements and in particular shall be responsible for.”

“Apart from the GMD as the appointor of the Tenders’ Board, which he also chairs, his duty is purely to plan, organise, evaluate, execute and supervise the conduct of ‘procurement processes’ and not to approve contracts above his threshold under the seal of the Corporation.

“He cannot plan, organise, evaluate, execute procurement process, approve and execute approved projects. He lacks the statutory capacity to be the sole determinant of due process in the corporation.

“But after the approval by the NNPC Board, President or FEC, it is worthy of note that the Tenders’ Board, according to Public Procurement Act in Section 22 (3), ‘shall be responsible for the award of procurement of goods, works and services within the threshold set in the regulations.”

“Under the seal of the NNPC Board, according to the First Schedule, Part A, Sections 11, 12 and 13 of the NNPC Act which says:

“11. The fixing of the seal of the Corporation shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman and any other person authorized in that behalf by the Board.

Any contract or instrument, which if made or executed by any person not being a body corporate would not be required to be under seal, may be made or executed on behalf of the Corporation by any person generally or specially authorised to act for that purpose by the Board.
Any document purporting to be a contract, instrument or other document duly signed or sealed on behalf of the Corporation shall be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed without further proof to have been so signed and sealed.”

The loyalists claimed that it was not true that Dr. Kachikwu as NNPC GMD did what Baru is doing

The fact-sheet states: “At the inception of Dr. Kachikwu’s term as the GMD NNPC, there was no NNPC board in place, and this void Kachikwu bridged by briefing the President weekly on all key issues. All actions and activities were sanctioned by Mr. President.

“Beyond that, it is on record that Dr. Kachikwu as the then GMD of NNPC instituted a culture of transparency at all levels which culminated to monthly publications of the operational activities and briefings of stakeholders of the corporation. This practice, which is a key component of the oil and gas reform plan, has since ended with his exit as the GMD.”

The loyalists asked Baru to explain how NNPC Board oversees the budget without information.

They also challenged NNPC and Baru to explain their silence on some controversial appointments made by the GMD.

They said Baru could not hide behind illegality to justify wrong actions.

The fact-sheet said: “Baru admitted that one of the NNPC board’s statutory responsibilities is overseeing the budget. How can the board perform this function if it has no information or input about contracts to be executed?

“Why was Dr. Baru silent on the controversial appointments he made without briefing the board? It is noteworthy that Dr. Baru was silent on the appointments which he carried out without informing the NNPC board, and were not subsequently ratified by the board. His silence confirms that his appointments were irregular and wrong.

“The truth is, there are no standards of transparency and due process that will allow NNPC to award contracts of that magnitude without carrying the NNPC board along. Due process is about being open, not taking refuge behind distorted and convenient interpretations of the rules.

” Due process is not just the letter of the law. It is also about the spirit of the law. People who have nothing to hide, welcome the opportunity to share information with relevant stakeholders. As they say, transparency is the best deodorant.”

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/kachikwus-camp-hits-baru-six-posers/

I've looked critically into this and have perceived that all of this is purely political. Human behavior that encapsulate the famous definition of Harold D. Lasswel concept of politics : Who gets What, When, and How.

In the end they will shake their hands and jollyment continues. After the reggae they'll play the blues.

Round 2! Gbaguan!

Due process is not just the letter of the law. It is also about the spirit of the law. People who have nothing to hide, welcome the opportunity to share information with relevant stakeholders. As they say, transparency is the best deodorant.
This above sums it up Buhari is the greatest scam artist.
Buhari where is your WAEC result he hire 50 Sans.
Buhari promise to declare his assets till now no show.
Buhari promise to abolish foreign medical trip but his wife and daughter just inform us there is no 20 naira paracetamol in the state house clinic.
Buhari where is our $26 BILLION DOLLARS he bribe NUPENG and PENGASSAN executives to embark on solidarity rally to Saint Baru.
This is a man that wears the INTEGRITY tag.
I repeat Buhari is the greatest scam artist ever liveth.

Forget constitution, he is covered wit buhari's blood

South launches 6 missiles against North.. Let's see whether they can smoke it..

North (3)
South (1)

We know the truth already.

Kachucku pls fire ooooon, dont let them corner you or sweep it under the carpet, after all this mumu APC government also unravelled what JONATHAN did with NNPC and we voted him out, make una open fowl yash make we vote this sets of mistakes out.

I thought they said the two bosses hugged and smiled together yesterday to fool the zombies. Let the fireworks continue...

Baru the anointed one ,Kachikwu is only fighting a lost battle

That corrupt dullard in Aso rock wl protect Baru with his last breath

Some olodos and dummies are trying to argue with Dr. Kachukwu, a former professor of Contract Law at Harvard and former senior counsel to the largest corporation in the world...ExxonMobil, on what is constitutional, legal and not legal in contracts. It's like a nurse and physician assistant arguing with a neurologist and professor of neurology on the mechanics of the human brain.SMH

For ExxonMobil to pick you as their senior legal counsel, you better make sure you are among the best legal minds in the world. Do you know how many Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Oxford and Penn state white attorneys they passed, to finally pick Dr. Ibe Kachikwu? I don't know what is wrong with us black people that behave like wild animals.

This is the background of Kachukwu in case you missed it

Kachikwu is a distinction graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Nigerian Law School. He bagged a first class degree in Law and was the best graduate and multiple awards winner from both Institutions. He thereafter obtained a Masters and Doctorate Degree in Law from Harvard University, with distinctions.

A former investment attorney in the United States, the publisher of several magazine titles, has also taught Law at Harvard, Nigerian Law School and several globally acclaimed institutions. He has three published Law books in Investment Law and Contracts and numerous articles in various Journals. In his capacity as the Vice Chairman and General Counsel of ExxonMobil, he oversees the compliance programs of the company and advises on issues related to adherence with compliance regulations and anti-corruption laws in Africa.

Before he joined ExxonMobil, Kachikwu worked as General Counsel of Texaco Upstream and Downstream in Nigeria.

And most importantly, how did Baru get presidential approval from London when the president as at the time approval was given was Prof Osinbajo?

dodelight:
I thought they said the two bosses hugged and smiled together yesterday to fool the zombies. Let the fireworks continue...

And in my own opinion what is actually going on is a battle of ego, I don't believe anything that much is missing. But on the other hand the Heavens are obviously turning things against the nepotistic mesaiah.

[s]

harmless011:
Due process is not just the letter of the law. It is also about the spirit of the law. People who have nothing to hide, welcome the opportunity to share information with relevant stakeholders. As they say, transparency is the best deodorant.
This above sums it up Buhari is the greatest scam artist.
Buhari where is your WAEC result he hire 50 Sans.
Buhari promise to declare his assets till now no show.
Buhari promise to abolish foreign medical trip but his wife and daughter just inform us there is no 20 naira paracetamol in the state house clinic.
Buhari where is our $26 BILLION DOLLARS he bribe NUPENG and PENGASSAN executives to embark on solidarity rally to Saint Baru.
This is a man that wears the INTEGRITY tag.
I repeat Buhari is the greatest scam artist ever liveth.

[/s]

Medic save this man before him kpeme

hmmm, dey con dey get camps and loyalists now.

Another one to keep the country busy. Like flies on rotten meat. The person that wrote this script for APC is a genius, would love to meet him or her someday.

The way Buhari handles this scandal will make or mar his re-election bid.

Best bet for him now is to step down and push Osinbajo and a northerner candidacy.

Buhari is a good man surrounded with corrupt bastards who he himself ( Buhari) doesn't have the mettle to prosecute.

If nepotism can be the first corruption to be eliminated, them we'll have the right people doing the right things

Defending buhari is a full time job... now i know why most go into default(insult)... most times you are short of words.

Baru is a thief

B

Why was Baru silent on the controversial appointments he made without briefing the board? Did the silence confirm that the appointments were irregular or wrong?

Baru filled nnpc with fellow northerners.

My own is, what is Jubril of Sudan doing about this?

When una talk finish let us know

harmless011:
Due process is not just the letter of the law. It is also about the spirit of the law. People who have nothing to hide, welcome the opportunity to share information with relevant stakeholders. As they say, transparency is the best deodorant.
This above sums it up Buhari is the greatest scam artist.
Buhari where is your WAEC result he hire 50 Sans.
Buhari promise to declare his assets till now no show.
Buhari promise to abolish foreign medical trip but his wife and daughter just inform us there is no 20 naira paracetamol in the state house clinic.
Buhari where is our $26 BILLION DOLLARS he bribe NUPENG and PENGASSAN executives to embark on solidarity rally to Saint Baru.
This is a man that wears the INTEGRITY tag.
I repeat Buhari is the greatest scam artist ever liveth.

See frustration!

Get the "likes" you crave for, be happy, and crawl back into your cubicle.

Okay

Do we even have president in this country?

book 1

Bizinton:


Baru denied it all. He said no money was involved in the contracts and that the NNPC Tenders Board had no business reporting to Kachikwu and the corporation’s Board. The Presidency backed his position.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/kachikwus-camp-hits-baru-six-posers/

Only one word for the comment above "LAWLESSNESS!"

This why I am in support of the removal of Quota System!

This is a case of government working against itself! There is confusion everywhere!

Total insurbodination on the part of Baru!

That makes me wonder, if there is no future in Nigeria oil as claimed, why is Buhari particular about NNPC to the extent that he has to add to his portfolio as a President

It seems to me that this is the only ministry the FG is particular about because all the other ministers are only working on the media which is always in a future tense!