President Bola Tinubu’s newly appointed board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has drawn criticism from the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).
According to reports, President Tinubu named Bashir Bayo Ojulari as NNPCL’s new CEO. Adedapo Segun, the company’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), was also appointed.
Additional directors have been appointed, including Austin Avuru (South-South), David Ige (South-West), Henry Obih (South-East), Bello Rabiu (North-West), Yusuf Usman (North-East), and Babs Omotowa (North-Central).
PANDEF’s spokesperson, Obiuwevbi Ominimini, charged the President with marginalizing the South-South in an interview with Arise News on Wednesday.
He claimed that although the region is primarily responsible for the production of crude oil and gas flares that support the nation’s economy, the president neglected to take this into account when appointing the CEO of NNPCL.
PANDEF insisted that the President remove the present board he established and designate a South-South individual to lead the NNPCL.
Austin Avuru, who was appointed to a non-executive role on the board, was qualified to lead NNPCL, he said.
“I want to state very categorically that the people of the South-South geopolitical zone, which produces the most oil and gas in this country, have been thrown into sadness at this moment,” she said. As a matter of fact, we should have anticipated that Mr. President would have chosen the NNPCL CEO from the area that produces the most oil.
As a result, the entire South-South geopolitical zone has been reclaimed today since we are viewed as second-class citizens in a nation that depends on us for its resources. A non-executive member cannot be added to the NNPC board or be reconstituted. This is unjust. It is unfair. It actually undermines the equity principle.
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Therefore, PANDEF is urging President Tinubu to make sure that this composition he created is reversed and that a South South geopolitical zone representative is chosen to serve as the NNPC CEO. The oil is made by us. The cost of producing oil falls primarily on us.
These days, the only nations that still have gas flare penalties are Nigeria and others. Furthermore, the local population does not even receive the gas flare penalty. The Chief Executive of NNPCL must be located in the region that bears the brunt of oil production, as the government is now considering increasing gas production to approximately 8 billion cubic feet and increasing crude oil production to approximately 2 million barrels per day.
The reason for this is that individuals in charge of affairs disregard the people in the area when we are not around. Imagine if we flared gas. Domestic usage of this gas is possible. We also have a shorter lifetime because of this gas flare. Since the South-South geopolitical zone is providing a non-executive member, we are not pleased with the board’s reorganization.
“Even the non-executive member Mr. Austin Avuru is eligible to serve as CEO. Numerous competent individuals from the Niger Delta are available to serve as NNPCL’s CEO.
