President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, asked the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to immediately get to work, warning that non-performance would not be tolerated.
Tinubu also warned that conducts suggesting a sense of entitlement would not be tolerated, and that the Board could be dissolved without prior notice to members over non-performance.
“But you could be suddenly dissolved if there is no sustained excellence in performance,” Tinubu said when he inaugurated the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited at the State House, Abuja.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this in a statement he signed Monday titled President Tinubu to NNPCL Board: non-performance will not be tolerated.’
President Tinubu promised to optimise Nigeria’s security architecture to improve the performance of the board.
“The challenge is corporate governance. Yes, we will improve the security situation. We are working very hard.
“Sincerely, the Chief Executive Office, Kyari, is doing very well, and doing all that I know.
“But to do this, we have to overhaul our security architecture so that the incidences of stealing vandalisation of pipelines can be reduced.
“And this will possibly help to build up our cash flow. And we will become a better nation,” he explained.
Nigeria’s oil theft has plagued the country for decades, leading to significant economic losses and environmental degradation.
In 2022, Nigeria lost at least $2bn to oil theft, an inquiry by the Senate revealed in November of that year.
The Senate’s findings revealed that only 66 per cent of the country’s oil production could be “effectively guaranteed”.
It said the other 33 per cent was affected by theft and lost production “due to the third-party easy access on land terrain.”
A month after the Senate’s findings, then-National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.) projected that the Federal Government may lose $23bn in 2023 if crude oil theft festers.
But speaking on Monday, Akinyelure said the board’s goal is “To make sure that the key performance indicators of the oil industry in Nigeria” so that “we’ll become number one in Africa and probably competing with leading oil and gas companies around the world.”
Afterward, the only female member on the board, Dr. Eunice Thomas (Akwa Ibom), told The PUNCH that the board has its eyes set on transiting Nigeria from fossil fuels to greener forms of energy.
Thomas said, “We will provide power for the people of Nigeria; we will industrialise the energy and transit from fossil fuel to more sustainable green energy.”
On the board’s inauguration, she said, “I am really challenged. But I would like to begin by thanking President Bola Tinubu for finding me worthy to sit on that board.
“I am aware of the challenges and his expectations of the board. I agree with the management of the NNPCL, they’ve done quite a lot so far and we will be working together with pleasure to increase productivity, improve the economy and sustain the environment.”
The board members inaugurated on Monday include Umar Ajiya as Chief Financial Officer, Ledum Mitee, Mr. Musa Tumsa and Mr. Ghali Muhammad as Non-Executive Directors.
Other Non-Executive Directors are Prof. Mustapha Aliyu, Mr. David Ogbodo and Ms. Eunice Thomas.
