Oil workers excited as Buhari dissolves NNPC board

A section of the Nigerian oil workers appeared excited over the dissolution of the controversial Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) board by the current administration.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in a letter dated June 26, 2015, signed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi, ordered the immediate dissolution of the board of the NNPC.

Monday Otono, former president of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Rivers State chapter, told BD SUNDAY that the sacked members of the board should account for their steward- ship and all books and accounts should be opened and reconciled.

“90percent of our wealth comes from NNPC and we cannot leave a few cabals to hold the nation to ransom as has been the case for the past 16 years till now. The so called ‘forensic’ audit does not make sense to anybody. We need a new slate in NNPC”, he said.

Taiwo Gbenga, Port Harcourt- based oil worker, told BD SUN- DAY that President Buhari should ensure that the incoming board is made up of seasoned technocrats with unbeatable knowledge of global oil industry in general, and the ills in the Nigeria oil sector in particular so as to fast-track the repositioning of the NNPC to meet current demand of the country.

“Many thanks to the President for dissolution of the PDP-led corrupt NNPC. The board put in place by the Jonathan administration was used to loot our billions of dol- lars. However, this is just a minute step because the GMD, Executive Directors, MDs, Refinery MDs, all the top brass of the subsidiaries must go. Many redundant GMs, managers and hangers on must equally go because NNPC stinks from top to bottom.

According to him, all work or- ders go to the MD who give juicy contracts to his cronies, wives,  concubines, girlfriends and family members and that the NNPC’s bidding process was a big sham.

“When a contractor is picked, he/she goes to look for other four contractors then collects their letter-headed papers, give those ghost contractors at least N50, 000 each for allowing the main contractor to bid on their behalf. If the contract is only N2.5 million, the main contractor quotes around N15 or 20 million for the contract and if the contractor is close to the system, they might ask him or her to up it to N50million and this is how Nigerian money is being fretted away by NNPC,” he alleged.

Ojiefoh Israel, Warri-based oil worker, said the President’s decision was a good move, but advised that he should look less at oil and more at agric sector, telecoms, software, and that as at March 2015, the US’s agric export to Nigeria stood at an annual $1.6billion.

“About $900million of this comes from wheat alone. Is Buhari aware that there is not one single agric produce imported from US that can’t be grown in Nigeria under natural or artificial means? American economy at inception was built with sugar cane resourc- es before industrialisation. Sugar cane still constitutes a size-able percentage to the economies of Brazil and Latin American econo- mies. Nigerian soil and climate is perfect for Sugar cane, rice (except for oil pollution in the Delta), cocoa, cassava, beans. But Nigeria imports all of the above,” he explained.

NATHANIEL AKHIGBE