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President Muhammadu Buhari

…Senator Abe, 5 others make list

Pan -Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) was quick in its response to the reconstitution of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday, saying President Muhammadu Buhari was, by the action, just scratching the surface of the problem.

The new Board members, according to a Presidency statement, has six members representing each geo-political zone of the country.

The members are: Mohammed Lawal (North-West), Tajudeen Umar (North-East), Adamu Mahmood Attah (North-Central), Senator Magnus Abe (South-South), Dr Stephen Dike (South- East), and Chief Pius Akinyelure (South-West).

The new Board, which replace the one that was appointed in 2016,  will be in place for three years.

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

“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..

“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”

Vanguard