Minister of Petroleum, Buhari, writes Senate, wants to remove himself from NNPC board

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate for an amendment to the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The president who is also the Minister of Petroleum wants the amendment to remove the Ministers of Petroleum and Finance from the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

According to the president’s letter the Senate, the ministers can continue to perform their functions without necessarily being members of the board.

In the letter dated September 17, 2021, read on Tuesday during plenary by the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, President Buhari is also seeking the amendment to allow the non-executive members to be increased from two to six in the interest of our national petroleum.

The president also wants the Senate to confirm the appointment of the Secretary and Board members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. 

Buhari explained that the request for the confirmation of the nominees was in accordance with the provision of section 2(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.

Those to be confirmed include George Abbah Ekpungu, Secretary (Cross River); Luqman Muhammed (Edo); Anumba Adaeze (Enugu); Alhaji Kola Raheem Adesina (Kwara); and Alhaji Yahaya Muhammad (Yobe).

The President in another letter to the upper chamber also sought the confirmation of the Board of the Upstream Regulatory Commission. 

He explained in a letter dated September 16, 2021, and read during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, that the request to confirm the Chairman, Chief Executive and Executive Directors for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority was made in accordance with the provision of Section 34(3) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021. 

The nominees for confirmation into the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Board are: Idaere Gogo Ogan (Chairman); Engr. Sarki Auwalu (Chief Executive); Abiodun A. Adeniji (Executive Director, Finance and Accounts); and Ogbugo Ukoha (Executive Director, Distributions Systems, Storage and Retail Infrastructure).

In a separate letter dated September 16, 2021, President Buhari while relying on the provision of Section 11(3) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, requested the Senate to confirm the appointment of four nominees as Chairman, Chief Executive and Executive Commissioners to the Board of the Upstream Regulatory Commission.  

The nominees for confirmation are: Isa Ibrahim Modibo (Chairman); Engr. Gbenga Komolafe (Chief Executive); Hassan Gambo (Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts); and Ms Rose Ndong (Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management). 

According to the President, both requests for the confirmation of the board’s membership were made “in order to fast track the process for the establishment of the Commission”.