NNPC Act does not recognise the minister of state
According to the NNPC source, Kachikwu was ignored because the Act establishing the NNPC does not recognise the post of the minister of state.
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Kachikwu, in a letter to President Buhari, complained of humiliation from the NNPC boss, Baru.
He said that the Act stipulates that the chairman of the NNPC board is the minister of petroleum.
The source also added that since Buhari also acts as the minister of petroleum, Baru did not wrong to report to him.
“The NNPC Act does not recognise a minister of state. The act is explicit that the petroleum minister is the chairman of the NNPC board,” the source said.
Another source who spoke to Punch denied the allegation that Baru awarded contracts without following due process.
The source also said “There is a lower tender’s board at the NNPC and there is another which is higher and is referred to as the NNPC Tenders Board. The Bureau of Public Procurement is aware of this. The NTB handles or awards contracts of up to $20m.
“Anything beyond that goes to the Federal Executive Council. This is what has been happening at the corporation in the last three to four years.
“The AKK pipeline contract, valued at about $3bn, for instance, has been there for the past five years. Baru did not award it, as well as some others listed in the allegations, rather he inherited it.
“That the NNPC has not come out to make any official comment does not mean that it does not know what to say. Some of these contracts were awarded years back. The corporation will come out to say something, but for now, silence is a strategy.”
According to reports, the minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu met with President Muhammadu Buharion Friday, October 6, 2017.
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