Kachikwu Unfolds Three-pronged Strategy for NNPC’s Restructuring

Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu

•   Accounts to be audited, contracts reviewed, more workers to go

The Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has given a hint on the three-pronged strategy for the restructuring of the state-run oil firm, adding that this would entail the reorganisation of management personnel, a forensic audit of the firm's accounts, and a review of its contracts with oil majors and other industry operators.

Kachikwu, who spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, also said more workers might be relieved of their jobs.

Kachikwu said the restructuring going on at the NNPC would be from “A to Z”, meaning from top to the bottom.

“It is an A to Z restructuring. I have done the first three layers, which had to do with the GEDs (Group Executive Directors) and Group General Managers. We are going to have a lot more now – the DGMs (Deputy General Managers) and GMs (General Managers) – as this would take us to the next layer, which is the lower layer.

“The whole idea is to go back to being able to look at the appraisals, how well they have done on the job and if they have done very well, how do we elevate them to positions where they can offer more service.

“If they have not done well enough, and we can retrain them, we will, but if they have not done well enough and there is no possibility of retraining, we will let them go.

“At the end of the day, NNPC isn’t a public service, it is a corporation and it is going to be run like a company, generating money and profit for Nigerians, so that the whole concept of anything goes is going to stop and this is the first stage in that whole process,” he said.

He said his approach to restructuring NNPC was based on a three-pronged process, explaining that there was the people aspect, which is being handled now by “getting the right people in the right places”.

On the second pronged strategy, he said: “We are going to get a forensic audit done so that we know clearly, not the (limited) one done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), but a proper forensic audit that will cover us all the way to 2014, 2015, and we will be able to say to you this is the state of the corporation and the economy.

“We are going to put processes and controls in place; we are going to do retraining and repositioning and then we are going to engage our (oil) majors and minors, all those who are active in the sector for us to work as a team trying to take Nigeria forward.

“The final stage will be the business stage, looking at all the existing contracts — are they good? Are they ok? Do they need to be redone? Look at the PSCs
(Production Sharing Contracts) and what do we do going forward? Look at the challenges posed by the reducing balancing sheet as a result of $50 or $40 per barrel for dark oil.

“What do we do to energise recovery and the income growth so that the government will have money to work with?

“It is a very intensive and calibrated work. A lot of us are not spending time sleeping, but over the next five to six months you will begin to see a new emergence in the NNPC, a new process of oil administration in the country and obviously giving fillip to Mr. President’s dream of taking the oil industry back to where it should be.”

He explained that a lot of things had been mishandled in the past and that things needed to be corrected.

He said his team was doing a lot of work on repositioning, restrategising and getting the right personnel in key places, and setting a culture for accountability and service delivery.

“I think that the new NNPC that you are going to see going forward will be a different institution all together,” he said.

When asked what would happen to the money in NNPC’s numerous accounts in view of the federal government’s directive that all ministries and agencies should operate a Treasure Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he said: “All that is being looked at because to run an oil company you need a lot of funds to do so.

“If you don’t, you will close down the corporation and the production system will close down. So we are looking at having merged the need for accountability and openness with the need to make sure that the industry also survives, you cannot throw away the baby with the bath water."

Also, in furtherance of its reorganisation, NNPC yesterday released the names of 15 new GGMs who were promoted this week to run its subsidiaries and business units.

A statement by the corporation’s spokesman Ohi Alegbe said this followed the recent sack and retirement of key top officials of the corporation in a reorganisation exercise that kicked in with the appointment of Kachikwu as its new GMD.

NNPC said that its reorganisation into a lean, efficient and business-focused organisation commenced with the management’s approval of the retirement of 38 senior managers on Tuesday.

It explained that the downsizing, which saw the exit of all senior managers who were billed to retire between 2015 and December 2016, was also a cost-saving measure, as exclusively reported.

The statement also quoted Kachikwu’s buttressing of the objectives, saying:
“The exercise, apart from gearing the corporation in the direction of a leaner and more efficient organisation, has enormous cost-saving benefits.”
Kachikwu said with Buhari’s approval, the appointment of the new GGMs to man some of NNPC’s strategic divisions was made.

The new GGMs are Mr. Mele Kyari who will head the Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD); Mr. Ahmadu Sambo to oversee NNPC’s Oilfield Services; Dr. Surajdeen Bola Afolabi who will head the Information Technology Department and System Application Products (ITD/SAP); Mr. Zubair Aliyu to head NNPC Capital; and Mr. Dafe Sejebor to oversee Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).

Others are Mrs. Kemi Akitoye who is now GGM in charge of the Human Resources Division; Mr. Godwin Okonkwo, GGM, Finance; Mr. Bello Rabiu, GGM, Corporate Planning Division; Mr. Anibo Kragha, GGM, Treasury; and Mr. Dalhatu Makama, GGM, Shipping (Nidas and Nikorma).

Mr. Samuel Ndukwe was also appointed GGM, Power; Mr. Mike Balami, GGM, Accounts; Mr. Yusuf Matashi, GGM, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG); Mr. Rabiu Suleiman, GGM, Engineering and Technoloy; and Dr. Olubunmi Oyetunde, GGM, Medical.