Over 1000 workers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will leave service any moment from now, Daily Trust has learnt.

 More than 200 of them are middle level officers that are caught up in the ongoing restructuring that has seen the exit of top management staff and nine heads of the corporation’s subsidiaries.

About 800 others are those that will attain the mandatory retirement age of 60 years or 35 years in service in the next one and a half years.

The new NNPC boss, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has said all staff retiring by 31st December 2016 should go now as a result of the downsizing, a source said.

The source said those to be affected are from the subsidiaries, especially  pioneer workers  of the refineries.

As at January this year, the Corporation has about 9,500 workers in its services.

The New Group Managing Director announced the disengagement of 38 management staff last week and said the on-going retirement of the Corporation workers will go down to the lower cadre.

‘It’s A to zero restructuring. I’ve done the first three layers which is going from the Group Executive Directors to Group General Managers and General Managers. You’re going to have a lot more now. The NNPC isn’t public service. It’s a corporation and we run like a company generating money for the people of Nigeria. So, the whole concept of anything goes should stop,” he had said.

Already there is agitation from the staff due to the on-going reforms alleging that it was not following due process.

They cited the example of recruitment of about 12 top management staff into corporation and deploying them in key positions without any employment notice or consultations of relevant stakeholders.

They also accused the new management of punishing some staff that insisted on due process.
Last Friday the two unions in the oil industry, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria  (NUPENG and PENGASSAN) warned that the reforms are exposing their members to danger.

“The on-going exercise portends a great danger in the Oil and Gas Sector, if workers are meant to bear the brunt of Government current action where the fight on corruption is now used as an act of vindictiveness against workers.”

Meanwhile, the management has scheduled a meeting with the oil unions tomorrow as part of the efforts to carry them along.

The Management further said the reforms were free from ethnicity or any agenda but mainly to enshrine professionalism in the system in a statement issued recently.

I’m Not on Mass Retrenchment Binge - GMD
The Group Managing Director has said his mandate was to put in place efficient, transparent and profit-oriented processes and not to embark on a mass retrenchment of the workforce.

Dr. Kachikwu stated that the mandate given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari is to turn around the entire commercial processes and procedures in order to impact on the growth trajectory and operations of the Corporation.

A statement from the NNPC yesterday said the reduction in the directorate from eight ( to four (4) at the top management cadre of the NNPC is to refocus and sharpen the business aspiration of the Corporation, adding that training and retraining of members of staff to align with the new vision is the next stage of the ongoing reforms.

The NNPC helmsman noted that all Production Sharing Contracts, Joint Venture Agreements and all other contracts between the NNPC and its various partners would be reviewed to reflect current day realities in the global oil and gas industry.

Dr. Kachikwu reassured that the recent repositioning is to put in place the right set of skills for performance stressing that the new arrangement provides a veritable vista for upcoming professionals in the Corporation to have a speedy career path.

He stated that the NNPC under his watch would put in place mechanisms that would plug all revenue leakages in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors while adding that all crude oil proceeds due for the Federation Account would be remitted accordingly.

ignis:
The end justifies the means....

I hope the sackings and downsizing yields a good result

Yungwizzzy:
1000 dropped to employ 5000 of their relatives and friends

Miranda11:
If the 1000 are incompetent and have no value to add, then they shld go because there are a lot of incompetent hands in NNPC. A lot of the staff were recruited on a man know man basis which is not bad if they are competent to do the job and can add value to NNPC, but unfortunately this has not been the case so what's the need keeping some1 that has no value to add that's just a waste of moneyed . That money can be used to employ pple who are more competent and have value to add in order to help NNPC become a more profitable and efficient corporation.

This cleansing should apply to the entire agencies and parastatals under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the federal civil service. To deserve a job with the Govt you must be competent to perform, gone are the days when incompetent pple are employed on a man know man basis. Change is truly here indeed.

laudate:


Very funny! Provide proof please, that the entire 1,000 people were incompetent. This is one problem with Nigeria. You guys will shout blue murder if the affected people are your kinsmen, but as long as they remain faceless... you really do not care. There is something called professional experience, institutional memory etc. All these will be lost in a single day, because some clowns sat down and decided to lay off 1,000 people in one fell swoop instead of taking time out to conduct a thorough investigation, then gradually phase out those who are not pulling their weight, within the system. A well-structured handover and succession process would then be instituted, as these people gradually wind down, and leave the system. Was that done in this case?? Kindly let us know.

And where are the more competent people that are to be employed? Is it from the pool of unemployed graduates on our shores, that do not even know how to write a single business case or memo??

A man takes over as GMD of NNPC and in just one week decides that the first thing to do, is sack 1,000 people. It is not as if any process was automated, that made these people redundant. It is not that a new process or structure was instituted, that did not require the presence of so many people. It is not as if any major departmental function was outsourced. So what was the criteria used in laying off this huge number of staff?

What is the total number of staff employed by NNPC that would justify laying off 1,000 people? And do they even have enough money to pay off their terminal benefits in a timely manner??

WhiteTechnology:
Some of them voted for Change

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APC

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Miranda11:


I don't need to provide proof, the GMD has said it that performance reviews will be used where it is possible to retrain staff for them to be more efficient then such staff will be kept, but where there is no value in doing so they will be let go. This is the criteria that is being used. If u know anybody that works in NNPC and who can be honest with you about the reality of the situation then you won't say this. I know pple who work in NNPC and they complain bitterly about the incompetence of the staff there who were employed simply on a man know man basis, they come to work do not add value and get the intelligent junior staff to do all the work. How can NNPC continue to survive like this and unfortunately this is the case throughout the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

laudate:


Another funny assertion... the GMD said..?? What criteria, exactly? You and your GMD should provide evidence that performance reviews were used in determining who was sent packing, and who was retained. What proof do you have that those people who were laid off, did not add any value to NNPC?

Provide proof of the so-called criteria please, so that your words can have true meaning. You know 'people who said...??"

That is the problem with Nigeria. People who always claim to know people, instead of relying on hard evidence and verifiable facts.

Later, they will turn round to claim that things don't work. How will it work when most folks prefer to rely on hearsay and 'people who know people'?

Miranda11:


This is the proof that the GMD said performance appraisals will be used

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/188339-nnpc-to-sack-more-staff-set-for-fresh-audit.html

Stelvin101:
All these ones they retired, they will still use members of their family replace the available slots, as long as we are in Nigeria. Nepotism, senior brother to Tribalism. Kwurruption's kids

laudate:


Another funny assertion... the GMD said..?? What criteria, exactly? You and your GMD should provide evidence that performance reviews were used in determining who was sent packing, and who was retained. What proof do you have that those people who were laid off, did not add any value to NNPC?

Provide proof of the so-called criteria please, so that your words can have true meaning. You know 'people who said...??"

That is the problem with Nigeria. People who always claim to know people, instead of relying on hard evidence and verifiable facts.

Later, they will turn round to claim that things don't work. How will it work when most folks prefer to rely on hearsay and 'people who know people'?

mars123:
you are looking for proof, small man like you...when you go to havard law school,graduate with honours, become the executive vice president of a multinational oil firm with a mind blowing resume,you will get the proof you're looking for. in this current dispensation,mediocrity isn't celebrated...know that!

smokes:
@ laudate why dont you provide proof that performance review wasnt used in downsizing or are u thinking that appraisals arent done and records kept?

laudate:

Why?? Was I the one that sent the 1,000 people packing? Or was I the one that was defending the GMD blindly claiming that performance reviews were used to determine the fate of the sacked people? Or was I the one claiming that the 1,000 people added no value to NNPC?
Or why do you think the staff unions (i.e. NUPENG and PENGASSAN) are taking the GMD to task, and threatening to down tools over the matter??