The new Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Mr Mele Kolo Kyari and his management team will assume duty today at the NNPC towers in Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on June 20, appointed Kyari alongside seven other new Chief Operating Officers (COOs).
Kyari, a geologist, was before now the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC and also doubled, since May 13, 2018, as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC).
As the new management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) prepares to take over the mantle of leadership, stakeholders have called for a more transparent and efficient management of nations resources.
In separate interviews with newsmen, the stakeholders advised the new management to enthrone a new regime of financial accountability and openness to enable Nigerians and stakeholders to follow up on the Corporation’s activities.
According to the Executive Director, Socio-Economic Right and Accountability Project (SERAP), Mr Tokunbo Mumuni, the new management should take a radical departure from the opaqueness of its predecessors in the running and management of the affairs of the NNPC.
‘‘No person or organisation will expect to be doing the same thing, same way, all the time and expect a different result. It simply doesn’t work that way. And that is how I expect the new management to be thinking.
They should strive to do things differently, so that at the end of their tenure, Nigerians will remember them for good.’’
Mumuni said in a democratic setting, things should be done with openness to foster accountability, saying that all monies that ought to accrue to the federation account must be properly remitted as at when due without holding back on anything.
He said the President should give the new management marching orders on accountability and transparency in the way the business of oil and gas is being run by them.
For his part, the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr Bismarck Rewane, said despite the fact that the petroleum policy of the country is not defined by NNPC, the state oil corporation as an implementing agency of the policy would be held liable for its failure.
Rewane advised the new management of the NNPC to ensure that the oil and gas policy thrust of the country must be run efficiently while all avenues leading to wastages must be plugged.
‘‘The problem with the petroleum agenda is not a people problem but an implementation challenge. If the agenda that is there now is run efficiently, it can deliver results if lifted to achieve structural change.
What I mean by structural change is to implement the agenda we have at hand now since we don’t have much time to begin to come up with a new policy framework.
He said attracting the much desired investment into the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry through the right pricing formula that is reflective of the market situation is much needed at this time in order to achieve an efficient market structure should be a top priority for the new management.
He said part of the structural changes will in turn address foundational challenges would help the corporation run in an efficient manner using reduced costs to achieve better results.
Also speaking, the President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationsits (NAPE), Mr. Ajibola Oyebamiji equally alluded to the fact that the NNPC should be more efficient and transparent under the new regime.
He said the NNPC should work more with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which is the agency saddled with the responsibility of conducting oil bid round and ensure that the exercise was carried out more frequently as against what currently obtains.
He tasked the incoming management to think out of the box by looking for more opportunities in the other six sedimentary basins in the country apart from the Niger Delta in order to create more active participation in the frontier basins.
He regretted that exploration activities are at its lowest ebb and as such has led to a shift in the date for the deadline of the country to meet its 40 billion oil reserves target to 2025, saying if activities could be increased by the new management the 2025 date could be shortened.
Meanwhile ahead of today’s assumption of duty by the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Mele Kolo, Kyari, the outgoing boss of the national oil firm, Dr Maikanti Baru has charged his successor-designate, Mr Mele Kolo Kyari, to surpass his achievements by taking the company to the next level.
Baru gave the charge at the weekend while receiving a delegation from the Borno State Government led by the state governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum. Baru expressed optimism that Kyari, as a thoroughbred product of the NNPC system, would deploy his cognate experience, expertise and exposure to deliver greater achievements.
He said that the incoming GMD played critical roles in delivering the various projects that have reformed the Corporation within a short period, stressing that Kyari, being part of the processes and vision of the new NNPC was in a vantage position to perform better.
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