Activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has said that
the defence of the Group Managing Director
(GMD), Dr. Maikanti Baru, that he has powers to
award contracts to the exclusion of the Minister
of State in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources
and the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) is illegal and violates the
NNPC Act.

Falana contended that the defence of Dr.
Baru failed to recognise of the provision of
Section 6 (c) of the NNPC Act, which has vested
the Board of the NNPC with the exclusive power
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.”
Falana stated this in a statement issued in Lagos
yesterday titled, “NNPC operates outside the
law” in reaction to the on-going face-off between
the minister and the GMD of the corporation, Dr.
Maikanti Baru over the unilateral award of $25
billion contracts by the latter.
The lawyer also noted that Dr. Baru failed to
respond to the unilateral appointments of key
staff in the NNPC without the approval of the
Board of Directors, pointing out that since this
particular allegation was not denied, it is
reasonable to conclude that it is admitted by the
NNPC management, even though the
appointments in question were made in utter
violation of the Federal Character Commission
Act.

Notwithstanding the report that the Presidency
has thrown its weight behind the NNPC GMD in
the face-off with the Minster, Falana stressed
the need to review the matter within the ambit
of the law.
On the management of the NNPC and contract
awards, Falana said: “For the avoidance of
doubt, Section 1 (2) of the NNPC Act states that
the affairs of the Corporation shall be conducted
by the Board of Directors of the Corporation.
Since it is conceded by Dr. Baru that some
contracts are subject to the approval of either
the Board or the Federal Executive Council, he is
yet to inform the Nigerian people who approved
the $25 billion contracts.

“It is pertinent to state, without any fear of
contradiction, that by virtue of Section 3 of the
NNPC Act, the GMD as the chief executive of
the Corporation, shall be responsible for the
execution of the policy of the Corporation and
the day to day running of the Corporation’s
activities and its associated services. But,
contrary to the erroneous impression conveyed
by the management of the NNPC, there is no
conflict whatsoever between the provisions of
the NNPC Act and the Public Procurement Act,
2007 to justify the usurpation of the powers of
the NNPC Board by the Tenders Board of the
NNPC headed by the GMD. Therefore, the
unilateral award of multi-billion dollar contracts
in the NNPC by Dr. Baru or the Tenders Board is
illegal, null and void in every material particular.
“With respect, the totality of Dr. Baru’s defence
was anchored on the mistaken belief that the
NNPC Act does not require him to report to the
Minister of State but to President Buhari in his
capacity as the Minister of Petroleum
Resources.

“Dr. Baru must have forgotten that upon the
removal of Dr. Kachikwu as the NNPC GMD in
2016, the President appointed him as the
Chairman of the reconstituted Board of the
NNPC in line with Section 3 of the NNPC Act.
Therefore, the decision of Dr. Baru to by-pass
the Chairman of the Board in the award of the
contracts and appointment of NNPC staff cannot
be justified either under the NNPC Act.”
Falana contended that “since Dr. Kachukwu was
not removed as the Chairman of the Board, the
President ought not to have encouraged Dr. Baru
to treat him with such pompous disdain and
arrogance”.

He argued that the impression given by Dr Baru
that once the President was briefed with respect
to the award of the contracts, that due process
had been observed in the award of the $25
billion contracts in line with the PPA was
misleading.

He maintained that such a position was neither
backed by the NNPC Act nor the PPA. He said
the competent authorities that have the final say
in the award of contracts and disposal of public
assets under the current political dispensation
are the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and
the National Council of Public Procurement
(NCPP).

“The NCPP is not chaired by the President, but
by the Minister of Finance. The other members
of the NCPP include some officials of the
Federal Government and representatives of
relevant professional bodies and civil society
organisations.

“Apart from constituting the NCPP and the BPP
the President has not been empowered to
approve any contract whatsoever. In fact, there
is no reference whatsoever to the Federal
Executive Council in the entirety of 61 sections
of the PPA. To that extent, the FEC presided
over by the President cannot approve the award
of contracts which is the exclusive duty of the
NCPP and BPP.
“Although the PPA was enacted in 2007, the
President or the Federal Executive Council (FEC)
has been approving multi-billion dollar or naira
contracts, albeit illegally.

The activist lamented that the Buhari
administration, which has loudly undertaken to
fight corruption, has ignored calls from many civil
society organisations to set up the NCPP.
He said since neither the President nor the
Federal Executive Council was competent to
approve the award of contracts under the PPA
the claim of the NNPC GMD that the
controversial contracts were approved by the
President could not be justified under the PPA.
To avoid a situation whereby the $25 billion
contracts and others being awarded by the
Buhari administration are annulled and set aside
on the grounds that they were awarded by either
the President or the FEC without any legal
authority, Falana counseled President Buhari to
constitute the NCPP without any further delay.
“If this call is ignored, once again, the civil
society anti-corruption bodies ought to approach
the Federal High Court for a writ of mandamus
to compel the President to inaugurate the
NCPP,” he said.
He also noted that apart from breaching the
NNPC Act and PPA, the NNPC had conveniently
ignored the National Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative Act and had refused to
comply with the directive of the NEITI to remit
$21.7 billion and N376 billion illegally withheld
from the Federation Account.

Though Dr. Kachukwu recently disclosed that the
nation had lost $60 billion due, he noted that the
NNPC has refused to recover same by
implementing the provisions of the Deep
Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing
Contracts Act and instead of directing the NNPC
to recover and remit the huge fund to the
Federation Account, the Federal Government was
busy piling up external loans.
He also noted that the NNPC does not subject
its budgets to the National Assembly for
appropriation as stipulated by the Constitution
and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
H recalled that shortly before proceeding on its
annual vacation, the Senate disclosed that the
NNPC and 33 other agencies of the Federal
Government had failed to submit their 2017
budget to the National Assembly but that the
NNPC management ignored the disclosure
knowing that the Senate would not pursue the
matter.

Falana contended that Dr.Ibe Kachukwu owed it
a duty to the country to react to the allegation
of the management of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that he engaged
in the unilateral award of multibillion dollar
contracts during his tenure as Group Managing
Director (GMD).

He remarked that even if the allegation of the
NNPC GMD against the minister is true, it
cannot justify what he described as the reckless
impunity that has characterized the management
of the affairs of the NNPC since 1999.
He contended however that the allegations and
counter-allegations of Dr. Kachukwu and Dr.
Baru over contract awards had reinforced his
earlier call on President Muhammadu Buhari to
relinquish the post of the Minister of Petroleum
Resources and appoint a full-fledged minister to
run and coordinate the affairs on the oil and gas
industry in strict compliance with the law.
He said the board of the NNPC should be
reconstituted by reducing its present membership
from nine to six persons as provided for by
Section 1(2) of the NNPC Act.

http//:thenationonlineng.net/award-25-billion-contracts-baru-violated-nnpc-act-says-falana/

I do not even need to read this to know that he is right. I rarely ever disagree with his views.
Cc lalasticlala

Oboi this falana "reaction" long o. Abeg make person add catalyst make he summarise the result. I can't fit wait jor.

faceURfront:
Oboi this falana "reaction" long o. Abeg make person add catalyst make he summarise the result. I can't fit wait jor.

summary

1. Baru purposely omitted the provisions of the NNPC act that mandates him to report to the NNPC board;


2. a major body, the NCPA, which is supposed to help scrutinise such contracts to ensure transparency, has not been set up by PMB as required;


3. PMB is tactically approving the insubordination of Baru towards his superior;

4. Baru failed to answer the question of appointments without due consultations;


5. PMB is turning a blind eye to the corrupt practices of his 'chosen ones'...

Jubril is a thief and all of them are hypocrites

One zombified king of zombies have been trying so hard to defend this shame and corruption so hard that his lack of sense is beginning to crystalize ,I hope he can now bury his big head in shame.

They would soon come for your head and call you a sociopath because you were not giving an appointment by this govt.

Buhari remains a damned corrupt person.He simply belongs to the hausa-fulani cabal.

I tot Falana is part of ds government.
Well APC my voters card is already doing press up for 2019