EXCLUSIVE: Real Reasons President Jonathan Fired NNPC GMD, Andrew Yakubu

September 11, 2014 Bassey Udo


The immediate trigger for the sudden sack of erstwhile Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, is becoming clearer more than a month after Mr. Yakubu and some other top officials of the state oil company were replaced.

PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively reveal that Mr. Yakubu, who spent two years in office, had to go after the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, accused him of insubordination over the appointment of a new Managing Director for the upstream subsidiary of the NNPC, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

Mr. Yakubu, who was appointed July 1, 2012, was the fourth GMD of NNPC in the about five-year reign of the minister.

This newspaper learnt that while the former NNPC boss made a case for an engineer with a sound technical background to be appointed for the company responsible for NNPC’s oil exploration and production operations, reliable presidency and industry sources say the minister wanted a lawyer she considered a loyalist.

Despite being a strategic arm of the corporation, the NPDC had remained without a substantive head for almost a year allegedly over the refusal of the NNPC management, led by Mr. Yakubu, to buckle under the Minister’s pressures.

Since coming on board as the GMD NNPC, Mr. Yakubu was said to have consistently resisted the proposal to appoint a non-technical person into the office, a development that constantly put him in the firing line as he crossed swords with Mrs. Alison-Madueke on several occasions.

Sources at the NNPC and the minister’s office, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimized, revealed that the appointment of the Managing Director for NPDC was one of the issues that always brought Mr. Yakubu in direct confrontation with the Minister.

“The face-off between the Minister and the GMD NNPC has been raging for a long time,” one of our sources said. “The NPDC issue was only one of several. In fact, the former GMD managed to remain in office that long because of the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, who is from the same geo-political zone with him and always stood up to his defence each time the Minister wanted his head.”

However, the last straw that led to the removal of Mr. Yakubu was the issue of appointment of the Managing Director of NPDC, this newspaper understands.

Our sources said the former NNPC GMD stood up to the Minister on the issue, which some NNPC Board members said generated serious tension for days, resulting in the movement of staff and visitors to the management floors of the NNPC Towers being restricted as the issues was deliberated upon.

The 10th and 11th floors of the A wing of the building houses the offices of the Minister and the GMD.

During the meeting, the Minister was said to have asked the former GMD to nominate candidates for the NPDC top job, ostensibly to create the impression that the NNPC was the initiator of the process that would culminate in the final appointment.

But Mr. Yakubu, our sources say, in line with his conviction that only a person with technical background was fit to be in charge of an important subsidiary such as NPDC, was said to have suggested two candidates, who did not include the lawyer the minister wanted.

A heated argument that ensued allegedly resulted in a stalemate, with the Minister accusing the former GMD of “gross insubordination taken too far”.

Coincidentally, a day after the tensed meeting, PREMIUM TIMES had published an exclusive report highlighting the minister’s lethargic management style of “micro-managing the entire petroleum industry as her personal estate using her powerful personal aides to carry out key policies, rather than designated officials”.

The minister, who was said to have used the media report as another confirmation of alleged insubordination by her subordinates, allegedly fingered Mr. Yakubu as the prime suspect and sponsor of the publication.

In anger, the minister was said to have reported Mr. Yakubu to the vice President before going to the President to demand his immediate sack.

A few hours later, Mr. Yakubu was fired and replaced by his kinsman, Joseph Dawha, who until his appointment was the acting GED, Exploration and Production of NNPC.

The President then immediately approved the appointment of Anthony Muoneke as Managing Director of NPDC.

Mr. Muoneke, said to be an oil and gas lawyer, was Mrs. Alison-Madueke favourite candidate opposed by Mr. Yakubu, who insisted that it would be counter productive to appoint a lawyer to run an oil and gas production company.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Muoneke, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985, was the Executive Director, Finance & Administration, Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited, NDPHC.

But even before the minister and the sacked NNPC boss clashed over the appointment of a chief executive for the NPDC, the two officials had for long related with each other with suspicion.

To avoid direct dealings with the former NNPC GMD, the sources said the minister resorted to a management style that saw her using her powerful personal assistants and sidelining the top management of the corporation in implementing some top oil industry policy decisions.

For instance, the sources said the Group Executive Directors (GEDs) of some key subsidiaries of the NNPC were encouraged to undermine the NNPC GMD.

They listed some GEDs of NNPC subsidiaries, who routinely bypassed the chain of command to report directly to the Minister first before their parent management to include those in charge of Pipelines and Petroleum Marketing Company (PPMC), and Crude Oil Marketing Department.

Other officials bypassing the GMD include those in charge of refining and petrochemical, which supervises the operations of the country’s four refineries and petrochemical companies as well as heads of the Legal and Corporate Services Department, which is also in charge of the management of NNPC’s Board secretariat.

Although Mr. Yakubu’s face-off with the Minster had been on for a long time, the sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the sacked NNPC GMD became a marked man whose days were numbered early this year when the N10 billion private aircraft contract scandal blew open.

When the scandal broke, our sources said, the minister and her aides allegedly blamed it on the former NNPC GMD whom they suspected was behind the leakage of information to members of the House of Representatives.

In an attempt to halt the alleged leakage of contract details, the minister was said to have directed the then Secretary to the NNPC Board and Legal Adviser, Anthony Madichie, to take action to protect the confidentiality of the corporation’s official records and block leakers from gaining access.

When Mr. Madichie couldn’t deliver, the Minister reportedly recommended his immediate removal from office. He was replaced by Ikechukwu Oguine as Coordinator, Legal Services and Company Secretary of the corporation.

The Presidency did not offer any reason for Mr. Madichie’s removal in April, the second time members of the NNPC top management would be removed in a space of two months since March 2014, when the President appointed new GEDs.

Industry experts however alleged that the constant changes were part of a grand design by the administration to enable card-carrying politicians, rather than professionals, take over the NNPC Board as well as the corporation’s subsidiaries.

The minister and her aides declined to comment for this story.

Repeated calls to the minister’s known telephone line failed to connect.

Several calls to her Senior Special Assistant, Kevin Alonzo, were not responded to last week.

When similar calls were made to the Group General Manager Group Public Affair of NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, he requested the reporter to send a text message.

He however did not reply the text message, as well as emails sent to him.

Source: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/168012-exclusive-real-reasons-president-jonathan-fired-nnpc-gmd-andrew-yakubu.html

Reading.....

So, he was actually sacked because he was not loyal to the "queen of the cabinet" not because of fraud. That administration was actually a disaster.
Choi, this is another confirmation of the statement credited to "their hero"

Ohk

Chaii.. stories and counter strories, it gets more and nore intwresting. One thing is still consistently clear, they never loved us and they never cared; it was all about their pockets and srlfish interests.

Story, I didn't read it sha am sure they want to discredit or blame the past administration

Let them do fast and charge him to court and grant him bail sharps, let's look for another story.

Story for the gods

Reno Omokri and his gang of losers can keep deceiving themselves. Reasonable Nigerians knew quite well that Andrew Yakubu was neither sacked for corruption nor investigated by EFCC. Corruption wasn't an offence under Jonathan as the entire government was a free for all come and loot regime.

.....

Reno Wendel Simlin Omokri and his band of pathetic gobblins and jonadumbfucktard slaves tried to twist and mould history to their favour but met an impenetrable brickwall called FACTUAL RECORDS!

The dvmbfuck sacked the criminanl not because of suspecion of theft but because he dared to challege his mistress, Alison Okpolo Eyes Madueke.

They will try to chip at this to create a passage way but we know it will ammount to sheer waste of energy.

Jonathan remains a pathological failure in and out of office. His slaves can do all they can to whitewash his image, but like we always say, THE INTERNET NEVER FORGETS.

So his firing then was for political reason and not because of fraud?

Both buhari n jonathan n all their ministers r all the same. Useless politicians

This is what we all know even as some stupid Jonah boys are making contrary claims shamelessly, or why was a disciplinary action not taken after his sack and money not recovered? Or Reno still defending his master's comment "stealing not corruption"

Summary

Your Hero didn't sack him cos of corruption, Brain dead youth keep using that as excuse.

The diversion of attention from main issues isn't really working

Opolo eye with strong hold of our sensitive office of income generation.

Hmmmmmmmmmnnn


Technicality is not appreciated in our country. Man know man .....

K

Some people will believe this... Anything the media feeds you, you'll believe.

He came up with this to save face, and as usual, anything discrediting the past administration is welcome here.

After all this talk, nobody will still be prosecuted. Propaganda everywhere.

Common guys put political feelings aside this is stealing the money plenty ahn ahn. Only if you're in a state of mental slavery you will support him.. Or start pointing fingers..to past or present administration.

Always trying to paint oga Jonathan bad. they just trying to draw away the credit from jonathan and still paint his administration bad trying to make he never earns the justification for yakubu's sack why was these story not released earlier why now that he was caught

RockHard:
So his firing then was for political reason and not because of fraud?

It wasnt for politial reason, it was for pùssy reason literally.

kabrud:
So, he was actually sacked because he was not loyal to the "queen of the cabinet" not because of fraud. That administration was actually a disaster.
Choi, this is another confirmation of the statement credited to "their hero"

As you believed this, believe also whatsoever that have and still coming from this source against your Hero Buhari.

I always know the truth will come out no matter how GEJ followership corruption masters paints it

Reno was a member of GEJ's. He made a comment earlier on Yabuku, GEJ and EFCC.
Could he have made that comment in not privy to information or sheer denial of truth?

If he had valid information and still made such unpatriotic comment, then Reno is simply an apologist and a self-implanted time bomb waiting to explode.

kings09:
Both buhari n jonathan n all their ministers r all the same. Useless politicians

Nay, I disagree cos one of them has the belief that

sekundosekundo:


As you believed this, believe also whatsoever that have and still coming from this source against your Hero Buhari.

When it comes to Buhari, they will now say the news station is not a reliable source.

sekundosekundo:


As you believed this, believe also whatsoever that have and still coming from this source against your Hero Buhari.

Bro, I don't discriminate news media. Pls remind me when u observe such.

omenkaLives:
It wasnt for politial reason, it was for pùssy reason literally.

That means that Deziani must have done worse than him sef.