NNPC Unbundling: I was misunderstood – Kachikwu tells Nigerian Senate
– The Nigerian Senate is examining the federal government’s decision to unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
– Kachikwu meeting with Senators ended a while ago
The minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu on Thursday, March 10 said that he was misunderstood on the issue of unbundling the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Floor of the Nigerian senate
He said this while meeting with the Senate committee on petroleum upstream at the National Assembly.
Kachikwu said the amount of existing properies in Nigeria is mind blowing and the oil sector is trying to move at a very fast pace.
He said there were about seventeen subsidiaries in the system. Some we’re active because they were in public space.
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He added that the pipeline and the depot aspect of the buisness was drowning the buisness.
“I may have been misunderstood but it won’t be business as usual, we will create new career paths and accountability for people.
“We are going into a threshold where the mojors are turning into a major focus. When I fist joined I set up twenty teams that dealt with twenty fixes.
“I have issued about10,000 podcasts explaining what we are doing and where we are headed. We are moving at a very fast pace.
“I worked on this issue with the president and we kept it as confidential as we could,” said Kachikwu.
Some lawmakers at the meeting pledged their support for what Kachikwu had done.
Sola Adeyeye represnting Osun central senatorial district said if he was guilty of unbundling then the minister has broken a law.
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He also said that although he has confidence in Kachikwu, he should have come to the National Assembly to discuss the issue so that he could have been defended him.
“We were told that you were unbundling the NNPC which means you were taking money to form a private company.
“If that is what you did, you would have broken the law. You have subsequently told the nation that what you did was restructuring.
“As long as you have not created anything that is independent. You will need this workers and need to have them not to be afraid.
“From everything you have said, I have confidence in you but laws are not based in sentiments,” he said.
He added that the reason why legal actions are taking place is because the law has to be protected.
Stella Oduah representing Anambra north senatorial district expressed her dissapointment in the situation adding that she was perplexed.
She said that everything said by Kachikwu promotes unbundling as the production in oil and gas has been horrible.
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Oduah also spoke on the idle assets all over nnpc and pipeline systems that have been unattended for a long time.
“My worst concern is why would a minister of gas and petroleum have a master plan such as this without the National Assembly going through it,”she said.
The Senate had on Wednesday, March 9, summoned Kachikwu over the unbuldling of NNPC expressing shock over the decision.
Kachikwu had announced the creation of seven independent units of the NNPC namely downstream, gas and power, refineries, ventures, corporate planning and services, and finance and accounts earlier this week.
This comes amidst the recurring fuel scarcity and long queues at petrol stations across the country, even as mixed reactions have been trailing the decision.
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