Breaking: Petroleum Minister Says Massive Shakeup At NNPC Looms

A major overhaul of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), one that hasn’t been done in over 20 years, will be announced in the coming days Petroleum Minister and Group Managing Director of the NNPC Ibe Kachikwu said on Thursday.

The effect of the shakeup would be the unbundling of the huge company (NNPC) into four to five main operational zones; the upstream, downstream, midstream, refining and other companies, Kachikwu also said.

He said what was more important is that these companies would be unbundled into about 30 independent companies with their own managing directors.

Speaking at the 25th anniversary of the Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum in Abuja on Thursday, Kachikwu said, “Titles like the Group Executive Directors which you have been used to in the last 30 years will disappear and in place of that, you are going to have chief executive officers.”

He said: “So, at the end of the day, a CEO of an upstream company must deliver me upstream results and we are very focused on that and along those chains, we are doing very dramatic things within the sector to bring the change.”

Kachikwu said the Corporation is potentially moving in a direction where for the first time in about 15 years, NNPC will be profitable.

“By the time these 30 companies are unbundled with their managing directors setting programmes, you are going to meet us in the active work space, we are going to be competing and we are going to make these things work,“ the minister said.