PANDEF hails reconstitution of NNPC Board, but says Buhari must address lopsided management structure

The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has responded to the reconstitution of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday.

PANDEF in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson, said that though it welcomed the reconstitution of the NNPC Board, the major concern of the Niger Delta was the slanted composition of the executive management of the corporation and the appointment of chief executives of the subsidiaries.

The group noted that the move by President Buhari to reconstitute the Board of the NNPC was just scratching the surface of the problem bedevilling the federal corporation.

“It is simply abhorrent that the Group Managing Director, GMD, the Chief Finance Officer, Finance & Account, the Corporate Secretary/Legal Adviser to the Corporation, and Chief Executives of virtually all strategic divisions and subsidiaries of the NNPC are persons from the Northern zones of the country”, the statement said.

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“We would, therefore, urge Mr. President to further carry out a holistic rejigging of the lopsided NNPC management structure, and correct the imbalances, in the interest of equity, fairness, peace and national cohesion.

“It is significant to recall that the position of Group Managing Director of the NNPC was, traditionally and rightly, reserved for persons from the South-South zone, which produces about 95% of the nation’s crude extraction. It won’t be out of place, therefore, to ask for the restoration of that tradition.

“PANDEF however notes that the latest NNPC Board composition, as announced by the Presidency, shows a departure from the 2016 Board arrangement, which had no representation from the South-East zone, an oil producing zone, and to that extent, therefore, commendable,” the statement by the group concluded.

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