₦airaland Forum

Nbote:
*Breaking News: 10 Ways to stay safe from the dreaded Monkey Pox:*

1. Avoid Monkey meat especially the Kanda.

2. Avoid that alcoholic concoction called Monkey Tail or Mokite.

3. Avoid Monkey Cage when u visit any Zoo until further advised.

4. Avoid Chinese Films especially 'Snake in The Monkey Shadow'.

5. Avoid Monkey (Wayo) Business, especially my Igbo brothers.

6. If u luv playing football like me please avoid 'Monkey Post' for now until after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

7. For the sake of ur life, avoid watching those Hausa & Togolese men who carry Monkeys about in Major Nigerian cities, especially Lagos, in the name of entertainment & magic. U will just die troway!!!

8. Don't ever use the phrase 'Monkey no fine but im Mama like am' else the pox will come upon u like a Hurricane.

9. Don't allow any of ur child to be jumping upandan like Monkey else 'dem go catch am o! It is better they jump like Antelope or any other animal.

Run 440 if u spot anyone with the disease. Avoid unecessary physical contacts, especially in Bayelsa State & always wash & sanitise ur hands b4 eating. If u can help it, stay in ur house until this scourge is sent to meet its cousin (Ebola Virus) in the pit of hell. Dibia na mgbologwu

I beg na oil matter we dey talk about for here

Wow

oil magnate circle

Sanusi accused NNPC of not remitting close to $20bn to the federation account, we all got mad, senate called for investigation.
Kachikwu sent a memo to GMB detailing how NNPC mismanaged $26bn in contracts, all the President did was to invite his minister to meet with his aides and took GMD to lunch and prayers.
Nobody is calling for any investigation!!

NASTYNASOSO:
HMMMMMMMMM

YOUR SUCH A DISGRACE TO YOUR GENERATION,BE INFORMED THAT PRESIDENTS YARADUA AND OBASAN[JO ALL HELD THE SAME PORTFOLIO YOUR PAINED ABOUT .

They were not brain-dead as za oza man

Omooba77:
OPINION, Tuesday, October 10:

Kachikwu, Baru and the NNPC debacle

by

Reuben Abati

The current NNPC debacle is probably the most embarrassing, even if mercifully, eye-opening crisis in the history of that nationally strategic institution since its creation in 1977. I seek in the following commentary to offer a number of observations that would probably throw some light on the muck and confusion running riot out there on the matter. In my view, it was an error to have paired the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, with Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

I say this for two reasons. When Dr. Ibe Kachikwu was appointed the GMD in charge of the NNPC and as Minister of State in 2015, it looked like a dream appointment and an extra-ordinary career point for him but not necessarily for the sector. Dr Kachikwu did not hesitate to assert himself and in his attempt to reform the NNPC, one of the victims was a certain Dr Maikanti Baru, most senior Executive Director at the NNPC, who was redeployed under the new dispensation as a Technical Adviser in the Ministry of Petroleum. This was like sending Baru to desert territory of the oil and gas sector. How the same Baru eventually got rehabilitated as GMD of the NNPC, to work with the same man who had tried to marginalize him within the system was a poor demonstration of an understanding of human psychology.

It was common knowledge that there was no love lost between the two men, and yet someone thought it was a good idea to force them to work together as a team. Leadership failed at that point, because the arrangement was not going to work. The Ministry of Petroleum and NNPC that emerged at that point was built on a fulcrum of conflict of personality and interest. The key players in the oil and gas sector can only work together as a team if they must reduce the opaqueness and conflicts in that sector, but the pairing of Kachikwu and Baru practically showed a lack of understanding. The crisis that has now erupted between both men was foreseeable, and I dare say, avoidable. Where is the wisdom in forcing two persons who have shown open dislike for each other to work together?

But let us consider the other level of the conflict: and that is the conflict of interest. One major issue in the oil and gas industry, over the years has been the uneasy relationship between the Ministry of Petroleum and the International Oil Companies (IOCs). The Ministry of Petroleum through its parastatals, the NNPC, and more particularly, NAPIMS, regulates the IOCs. Nonetheless, the relationship between the regulator and the IOCs has always been like that between the cat and the mouse. Civil servants not just in the NNPC but elsewhere within the government have a penchant to want to work with their own.

Political appointees are treated with suspicion, as wayfarers, as the civil servants seek to protect their own territory. The battle for territory in the Nigerian government is one of the most vicious fights in the corridors of power. So it has been that in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, every attempt to appoint an IOC-associated person as head of the NNPC or other parastatals under the Ministry of Petroleum has always resulted in the equivalent of street fights.

Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Edmund Daukoru and Funso Kupolokun could not forge a seamless relationship even if Daukoru spent only five months or so in that position. Diezani Allison-Madueke was also from the IOCs (in her case Shell) and obviously she had issues with NNPC and Ministry officials. She had an advantage though: no GMD of NNPC would dare stand up to her, or by-pass her.

The belief within the Ministry of Petroleum system is that Ministerial appointees from the IOCs have interests that are different from their own traditions. President Buhari made the matter worse by making Kachikwu, an IOC man, from Exxon Mobil, GMD and Minister of State of Petroleum. On the surface of it, the impression was created that he could generate policies as he deemed fit, enjoy direct access to the Minister of Petroleum and gain the authorization to implement the same policies as he liked.

From day one, Kachikwu was thus a marked man within the Ministry of Petroleum system. It will be naïve to assume that it is only Maikanti Baru that is fighting him. It will be safer to assume that it is the establishment that is trying to cut him down to size. If you doubt that, then check the history of the system: most of the former Ministers of Petroleum that managed to do well are not even from the system but complete outsiders. Caught in the middle of this conflict, Kachikwu does not want to take the matter lying low. He is fighting back. I’ll comment on whether that is a smart or clever move anon.

I think the other problem signposted so far in this matter, is the role of the Minister of State and the substantive Minister and how power and responsibility are delegated along the reporting lines. The related issue is access to the delegating authority. What we know is that the Minister of State in the Nigerian system has always faced difficulties. He or she occupies the same space in the power spectrum similar to that of a Deputy Governor, even if he or she does not have any Constitutional right of succession, in the event of the death or impeachment of the substantive officer. So serious is this matter that when certain Ministers of State were treated shabbily in the past they had to protest, and force the issue. The Nigerian Constitution, in line with the Federal Character Principle, says there must be a Minister from every state of the Federation. Since it would make no sense to have 36 Federal Ministries, some Ministers end up as Deputy Ministers, but in reality, they are expected to report to a substantive Minister representing another state! The result has been nothing but conflict.

Under President Umaru Yar’Adua, the then Secretary to the Federal Government had to issue a memo dividing functions and responsibilities between Ministers and Ministers of State. Under President Goodluck Jonathan, there were three Ministers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs representing different states of the Federation: their functions had to be spelled out to avoid conflict. This was also done in the Ministry of Health between Onyebuchi Chukwu and Muhammed Ali Pate, but one of the unwritten reasons why Pate eventually left the government was that he didn’t like the assigned role of a subordinate.

At a time, not even Rilwan Lukman and Odein Ajumogobia could work together. In Kachikwu’s case, he faced a humiliating situation whereby the GMD of a parastatal under his Ministry seemd to have better access to the substantive Minister and President. For months, the Minister of State could not access his principal, but the GMD of NNPC could, and that must have made him feel really bad. The truth is that the oil and gas sector is Nigeria’s honey pot and every GMD of NNPC has always enjoyed both official and unofficial access to the President. As I said earlier, only Diezani Allison-Madueke could keep her NNPC GMDs in effective check. If they stepped out of line, they lost their job.

Nonetheless, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not have to be the Minister of Petroleum of Nigeria. At face value, the President seeing that the oil and gas sector is the honey pot of Nigeria may want to supervise it directly. Oil generates close to 80% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange. Even a President who does not hold on to that portfolio will be tempted to keep a close eye on that. In President Buhari’s case, he had been a Minister of Petroleum in the past and chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund. All of this when new players in the industry were in kindergarten class, and so it can be assumed that he knows much about the industry. But the President being the Minister of Petroleum creates exactly the kind of crisis that we are witnessing. The President is the final authority.

Whoever is appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources exercises in any case, delegated authority. Both the Petroleum Act and the NNPC Act further vest authority in the Minister of Petroleum Resources exercising delegated authority. When the President combines the positions of President, Minister of Petroleum and Chairman of the Executive Council, and memos by all Ministers are to be processed through the Council, the President turns himself in the case of the Petroleum Ministry into a mini-god over Nigeria’s honeypot. If the President acting as Minister presents a Memo to Council, it is most unlikely that anyone among his own appointees will oppose that memo. The memo ordinarily receives automatic approval, no matter how it may be. NNPC GMDs from Obasanjo’s time have tried to exploit this, when given that advantage, and it is why the NNPC’s response to Ibe Kachikwu now in the public domain is so troubling. Baru quotes the law. He insists that he has followed due process in all that he has done. He merely exploits the loopholes within the system that work perfectly in his favour under the present arrangement.

In his opportunistic statement released yesterday, he quotes NNPC’s alleged fidelity to the Procurement Act, and why and how the NNPC Group Executive Council does not have to report to a Minister of State, but the Minister or the Federal Executive Council. Mr Baru should be told that due process is not the only issue raised in Dr Kachikwu’s memo. He raised issues about the appointment and deployment of NNPC Executives and the appointment of COOs. Is that part of the mandate of the BPP? So, why should we have a Board that cannot perform oversight functions? The truth is that in many government departments, the chief executives often undermine the Board, especially if they are as powerful as an NNPC GMD who wields enormous influence and goodwill, as he wishes.

On his part, Dr Kachikwu himself ruins his own case when he begins to talk about his being pro-North and his father having served in the North. What is that all about? It is completely immaterial. When a serving Minister begins to justify his own Nigerianness on the grounds of being pro-north, then we get closer to the root of the problem with Nigeria. Is Kachikwu also trying to play smart, to protect himself strategically?

Kachikwu and Baru have created significant mess in the petroleum industry due to their own conflicts. With due respect, that is the truth and the situation. It is a conflict that must be resolved in the national interest and the buck for doing that stops at the President’s table. This particular conflict, and other intra-governmental conflicts before now, almost becoming recurring decimals: EFCC vs NIA, DSS vs. EFCC, Babachir Lawal and NIA probe, the Senate and the Inspector General of Police, have altogether dramatized to the international community cracks within this administration, and a growing governance crisis.

President Buhari has a responsibility to rescue his administration from the same odium that has often compromised Nigeria’s most strategic revenue sector. So far, he has not done so, and his failure will be remembered appropriately, if not now, then at the right time. It is tragic.

The National Assembly also probably has a role to play, beyond claiming it would look into the allegations that have been raised. The Senate has since separated the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill into three sections. It has passed the Administrative Section. But it would appear that the key issues in that industry would be both the Fiscal Regime and the local community frameworks.

Administrative reform is not enough, and may even cause more serious problems such as we are witnessing. However, more probing questions have to be asked for the benefit of the divided public: how many NNPC contracts have been tabled before the FEC in the last two years, and what is their status? There is more to this matter than we know.


http://reubenabati.com.ng/index.php/reuben-views/item/3782-kachikwu-baru-and-the-nnpc-debacle-reuben-abati

@Reuben Abati,

You have found your voice which you lost as spokesman of president Jonathan when Lai Mohammed was inventing all falsehoods against Jonathan presidency.

Abati hardly disputed Lai's lies against Jonathan, even though Abati was in the right position and right one to counter Lai's lies.
Abati was more interested in power returning to his Yoruba/Hausa combination through APC.

obinna4Jesus:
An expose on the happenings in our honeypot. I think it is inappropriate for PMB to be the minister of petroleum, chairman of the FEC and also the president. Such arrangement appears clumsy and won't give room for a proper over sight of the petroleum ministry. Is he in the know of the happenings in the petroleum industry? Does he know the convoluted technicalities in the oil and gas industry. He should relieve himself of that position and appoint Ibe Kachikwu as the senior minister of petroleum and not the other way. The level of corruption in NNPC stinks to the high heavens and this can only be checked by effective monitoring of their activities as well as the enactment of laws which will give room for transparency and probity. Buy the truth and sell it not.

Very true
+1

NASTYNASOSO:
HMMMMMMMMM

YOUR SUCH A DISGRACE TO YOUR GENERATION,BE INFORMED THAT PRESIDENTS YARADUA AND OBASANJO ALL HELD THE SAME PORTFOLIO YOUR PAINED ABOUT .

President Yar'Adua did not. Dr Rilwan Lukman was Min of Petroleum while Mr Odein Ajumogobia SAN was Min of state Petroleum!

No wonder Deziani wants to come home to shed more light on the fraud and corrupt practices in nnpc and this government is refusing her. Hmmmmm naira is finished in the hands of these vultures

discusant:
@Reuben Abati,

You have found your voice which you lost as spokesman of president Jonathan when Lai Mohammed was inventing all falsehoods against Jonathan presidency.

Abati hardly disputed Lai's lies against Jonathan, even though Abati was in the right position and right one to counter Lai's lies.
Abati was more interested in power returning to his Yoruba/Hausa combination through APC.

Please I beg you in the name of whatever you worship as your god, don't bring that tribal rubbish into this otherwise sane and civil discussion.

seunmsg:
Above is the crux of the matter and why I am really worried. Even if the entire NNPC bureaucracy is against the minister, the president who brought Kachikwu to reform the oil sector should give him enough support to do the job. The presidents action so far as shown that he is in tacit support of Baru undermining the minister of state.

If the president no longer believes in the ability and capacity of Kachikwu, he should just go ahead and sack him. Kachikwu himself can also go ahead and resign since it appears he no longer enjoys the confidence of the president.

Did you see the efcc report on Mr Kachuku's brother? That might give you the answers to ur questions.

Abati shut up, a similar clash occurred during the regime of the buffoon in chief between Diezani aka froggy eyes and Andrew Yakubu the guy with the dollar stuffed safe ànd gej fired yakubu.

henrysam:
No wonder Deziani wants to come home to shed more light on the fraud and corrupt practices in nnpc and this government is refusing her. Hmmmmm naira is finished in the hands of these vultures

Lol Diezani only wants to come back home because she realised the fight against corruption is now k-legged and it is clear she will most likely scale through unscathed. She ran to UK, she should stay there and answer to her crimes. FROGGY EYED THIEF!

seunmsg:
Above is the crux of the matter and why I am really worried. Even if the entire NNPC bureaucracy is against the minister, the president who brought Kachikwu to reform the oil sector should give him enough support to do the job. The presidents action so far as shown that he is in tacit support of Baru undermining the minister of state.

If the president no longer believes in the ability and capacity of Kachikwu, he should just go ahead and sack him. Kachikwu himself can also go ahead and resign since it appears he no longer enjoys the confidence of the president.

Not holding brief for PMB, but there's the allegation that he was just hearing of the beef btwn Baru and Kachiwku for the first time when the memo was leaked. All this while he had been prevented from having access to PMB - so called 'cabals' at work, evidently.

All the same this looks very bad for this administration.

TEYA:
Abati shut up, a similar clash occurred during the regime of the buffoon in chief between Diezani aka froggy eyes and Andrew Yakubu the guy with the dollar stuffed safe ànd gej fired yakubu.

Guy read it again. Your point is what Abati was trying to make regarding the inevitable tensions between the GMD and ministry. Diezani was unique due to her special relationship with GEJ, so she always had her way. Kachikwu obviously doesnt enjoy such a privilege.

Am happy for this man, he is intelligent and purposeful. If we can have more of his kind in the nation then their is hope for Nigeria

NASTYNASOSO:
HMMMMMMMMM

YOUR SUCH A DISGRACE TO YOUR GENERATION,BE INFORMED THAT PRESIDENTS YARADUA AND OBASANJO ALL HELD THE SAME PORTFOLIO YOUR PAINED ABOUT .

That they held such positions ab initio doesn't make their decision right and that is my viewpoint. I have nothing against PMB rather I would want a scenario where individuals that are quite familiar with the operations of the petroleum industry should be entrusted with such responsibility. For crying out loud you don't need to rain invectives on me in order to make your views known. God bless you!

ourema:
Didn't the State Minister of Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu knew that as a State Minister of Petroleum he is automatically under the GMD? And that the law establishing the NNPC did not recognise the position of a State Minister? Why did he accept the role of a State Minister of petroleum if he knows his ego will be smashed if disobeyed.
I think he is a complete disgrace to the people of the Niger Delta and as such he should resign immediately.
He is very unprofessional in his conduct

Thank you for speaking the truth.

Kachikwu knew the laws, exercised and benefited from the laws when he was both MoS & GMD; yet he seems to now want them pulled down and moulded to suit his inflated ego.

He should be sacked pronto for embarrassing the govt and his kinsmen, who are currently looking for ways to spin the story to make it as if he was being maltreated; instead of what he truly is .i.e a bad loser who couldn't live by the rules he once enjoyed.

ItsMeAboki:
Thank you for speaking the truth.

Kachikwu knew the laws, exercised and benefited from the laws when he was both MoS & GMD; yet he seems to now wants them pulled down and moulded to suit his inflated ego.

He should be sacked pronto for embarrassing the govt and his kinsmen, who are currently looking for ways to spin the story to make it as if he was being maltreated; instead of what he truly is .i.e a bad loser who couldn't live by the rules he once enjoyed.

Fantastic! I love this

ItsMeAboki:
Thank you for speaking the truth.

Kachikwu knew the laws, exercised and benefited from the laws when he was both MoS & GMD; yet he seems to now wants them pulled down and moulded to suit his inflated ego.

He should be sacked pronto for embarrassing the govt and his kinsmen, who are currently looking for ways to spin the story to make it as if he was being maltreated; instead of what he truly is .i.e a bad loser who couldn't live by the rules he once enjoyed.

What truth?

Very scanty thread, where are the $26B is missing crew, I guess the article is too long to read.

obinna4Jesus:
That they held such positions ab initio doesn't make their decision right and that is my viewpoint. I have nothing against PMB rather I would want a scenario where individuals that are quite familiar with the operations of the petroleum industry should be entrusted with such responsibility. For crying out loud you don't need to rain invectives on me in order to make your views known. God bless you!

HMMMMMMMM

YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE OIL ND GAS INDUSTRY AND ITS OPERATIONS,SO RESERVE YOUR COMMENTS.
MANAGEMENT IS IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN,YOUR CARD SCORE IS WHAT IS NEEDED NOT YOUR FAMILIARITY WITH OPERATIONS.

Bigii:
They were not brain-dead as za oza man

HMMMMMMM

FUNNY
AT YOUR AGE HE WAS MAKING GIANT STRIDES MAKING HIS MARK IN NIGERIAN POWER CIRCLES.
NOW MR.LIVE BRAIN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH YOUR LIFE,SEEKING NOTICE IN NAIRALAND .INSTEAD OF THE NEWSPAPERS.
PRAY YOU ACHIEVE HALF OF HIS ACHIEVEMENT'S IN YOUR LIFE TIME

Lakeland4321:
President Yar'Adua did not. Dr Rilwan Lukman was Min of Petroleum while Mr Odein Ajumogobia SAN was Min of state Petroleum!

HMMMMMMM

YOU THINK YOU KNOW BUT YOU ARE NOT WELL INFORMED SO YOU KNOW NOT.
RILWANU ASSUMED AFTER YARADUA.

Reuben!how do u knew all this were u there Hav yu 4gotten that Gej fired Andrew yakubu over beef with Dieziani

NASTYNASOSO:
HMMMMMMMM

YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE OIL ND GAS INDUSTRY AND ITS OPERATIONS,SO RESERVE YOUR COMMENTS.
MANAGEMENT IS IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN,YOUR CARD SCORE IS WHAT IS NEEDED NOT YOUR FAMILIARITY WITH OPERATIONS.

May be you've got to school me since you are an authority in the operations of the oil and gas industry so I could learn. If you need to critique the opinion of someone, learn to make that constructively. Am Waiting for your lectures.

obinna4Jesus:
May be you've got to school me since you are an authority in the operations of the oil and gas industry so I could learn. If you need to critique the opinion of someone, learn to make that constructively. Am Waiting for your lectures.

\\

HMMMMMM

20 YEARS COGNATE EXPERIENCE OIL AND GAS
ENGINEERING , PROJECT CONTROLS AND MANAGEMENT

TELL ME YOUR AREA OF DIFFICULTY OR CONSTRAIN AND I WILL UNRAVEL IT FOR YOU

BigIyanga:
What truth?

If you can see the truth then maybe you should point out the lies you saw in the quoted comments - pls amuse me.

[/quote]On his part, Dr Kachikwu himself ruins his own case when he begins to talk about his being pro-North and his father having served in the North. What is that all about? It is completely immaterial. When a serving Minister begins to justify his own Nigerianness on the grounds of bQeing pro-north, then we get closer to the root of the problem with Nigeria. Is Kachikwu also trying to play smart, to protect himself strategically?[/quote]Having posted thrice on different threads since the memo was leaked, this is the first time I will see Kachikwu Northern's credentials for his post. It is a pity he has been frustrated to the extent of citing his northern alliance to survive. I remember this is always a survival strategy for people from his area. They often publicly believes their survival in Nigeria is guaranteed by this credential.

Abati tried to maintain his friendship across the bridge by not breaking the bridge. This must have been the reason this thread has the lowest patronage & followers ever since this Baru Kachikwu saga began. Most supporters of Kachikwu did not respond otherwise, it would have entered 9 or more pages by now. This is not omokri or FFK kind of response.

Abati failed to tell us the truth about what would have happened if this scenario happened under Obj, diplomatically he brushed it aside with Dakouru five months in office. Abati - politics. Obj sees every minister as exercising his delegated authority as the head of government irrespective of whether minister or minister of state. Dakouru was the chairman of NNPC board under Obj. It was very difficult for GMD to have direct access to Obj on strategic matters without the input of the minister.

This case is quite different. This is the point Abati avoided here. The minister is the Technical Adviser to the president but he cannot see the president, but with access to Malam Daura or Nasir or greetings of rankadede or Jumat or evening prayers at villa Baru access is direct. Then Kachikwu is a minister of state without portfolio. This is an injustice.

ourema:
Fantastic! I love this

You are welcomed

ItsMeAboki, where is sarrki your brother? Comments are extremely few on this thread compared to other threads on this Kachikwu Baru saga.

So you are saying that Kachikwu does not have any authority as minister of state with the power play,
meaning to say, to it was deliberate that the president stripped Kachikwu off the DGM position for Baru? I see his humiliation mounting becos the north would not want Kachikwu become the substantive minister becos he won't be a subordinate to the south. You see reason why Baru called Kachikwu errand boy. Like i said before, if Kachikwu can still withstand humiliations and frustrations is okay, at least, if he does not know where he is going to, he might as well know where his coming from.