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New NNPC GMD, Kyari, Others to Assume Office July 8
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday gave further details of President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the appointment of a new Group Managing Director, six Chief Operating Officers and a Chief Financial Officer for the corporation.
The spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, said Mele Kyari would not assume office as the new GMD of NNPC until July 8, to allow Maikanti Baru effectively exit the office on July 7 after attaining the mandatory 60 years of age.
According to Mr Ughamadu, the new Group Managing Director was, until his new appointment, the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC. Besides, Mr Kyari doubled as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since May 13, 2018.
“Kyari would be bringing to his new appointment more than 27 years of experience in the various value chains of the Petroleum Industry, ” the NNPC spokesperson said.
Other appointments include Roland Onoriode Ewubare, from the South-south region, appointed as the Chief Operating Officer, Upstream
Until his new appointment, Mr Ewubare was the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investments and Management Services, a Corporate Services (NAPIMS) unit of the corporation in Lagos.
Before his NAPIMS’ appointment, he was the Managing Director of the Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), a seismic data acquisition company of NNPC based in Benin City in Edo State.
Others include Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu, from North-central, appointed as Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals.
Until his new appointment, he was the Managing Director of National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO).
Also, Yusuf Usman from North-east was appointed the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power.
Until his new appointment, Mr Usman was the Senior Technical Assistant to the Group Managing Director of the corporation.
Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu, from South-east, was named the new Chief Operating Officer, Ventures, from her previous appointment as the Group General Manager, NNPC Oil Field Services, established to provide technical services to players in the Industry.
Umar Isa Ajiya, from North-west, who holds the new position of Chief Financial Officer, was until his recent appointment, the Managing Director of Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) of NNPC, a Downstream arm of the corporation.
Prior to his new appointment, Mr Ayija was the Managing Director of Popelines and Products MarketingCompany (PPMC) as well as the corporation’s Group General Manager Corporate Planning and Strategy (CP&S).
Adeyemi Adetunji, from the South-west, who was appointed the new Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, was until his new appointment the Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, a Downstream Marketing Company of NNPC.
Prior to his new position as the MD of the Downstream Marketing Company, he was General Manager, Transformation Department, a Think-thank unit of the corporation.
Farouk Garba Said from North-west, holds the new position of Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services.
He was previously the Group General Manager, Engineering and Technology Division of NNPC.
Mr Said would be taking over from the present occupier of the office who retires statutorily on June 28, 2019.
Mr Ughamadu said the new appointees have been directed to work with the current occupiers of the various offices till July 7, to ensure a smooth transition on July 8, when their appointments would take effect.
Premium Times
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
