Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, has pledged his management’s preparedness to work closely with the in-house unions to promote a convivial working relationship among members of staff in the Corporation.

Yakubu gave the assurance last week during a familiarisation meeting with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, PENGASSAN, and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

He said that for the new management to achieve its ambitious repositioning programme for the Corporation, it was imperative for the management and the unions to be on the same page of transformation for the petroleum industry.

“I want to solicit your support in this journey to transform the NNPC and to assure you that some of the concerns that the unions have raised are already being addressed by top management. The ultimate objective is for us to succeed in this national assignment and it is a collective journey that we must all undertake,” Yakubu submitted.

The GMD opined that the management and members of staff must work together in unity for the NNPC to move to the next level. “Though the task before us is daunting, I believe with your cooperation it is not insurmountable,” he added.

He stated that the new management will operate an open door policy, adding that there was every need for both management and the unions to listen to each other for the Corporation to make progress.

Speaking on behalf of the Unions, the Chairman of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis Johnson, congratulated the GMD and his new executive team on their well-deserved appointments, and assured them of their readiness to work with them harmoniously for the Corporation to move forward.

In another development, Yakubu, pledged his commitment to transparency and accountability in the operations of the Corporation as well as across the value chain of the oil and gas industry.

Mr. Fidel Pepple, speaking for the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, quoted Yakubu as saying that under his watch as GMD, the NNPC will assiduously seek to reinforce the tenets of accountability and transparency in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

“The new GMD is a man of proven integrity with a huge appetite for hard work. He has stated his resolve to strengthen the Corporation’s core values and we at NNPC and the oil and gas industry have no reason to doubt him because we know his pedigree,’’ Pepple stated.

Yakubu is credited with the following achievements in the industry: maintained average production of 2.4 million barrels per day in 2011 despite arduous challenges; successfully completed the divestment processes and assignment of equity to the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) for growth; completed state-of-the-art Seismic Processing Center in Port Harcourt, by the Integrated Data Services Limited, a subsidiary of the NNPC; and successfully restored operation in Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, (WRPC) after a 2-year shutdown. Similarly, he is credited with the feat of restoring the WRPC to operation after the ugly incident in which the plant exploded in 1989.

It is also on record that he led the NNPC/DPR team that produced the first Strategic Studies of Gas Utilization Projects for the Nigerian government; a member of technical/commercial team of West African Gas Pipeline that achieved Final Investment Decision in 2005; successfully turned the National Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO) which had gone comatose to a commercially viable entity in 2006.