L
LequteMan
Guest
Professor Tam David West, the Minister of Petroleum and Energy resources during Muhammadu Buhari's first administration has weighed in on the crisis in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, between Maikanti Baru and Ibe Kachikwu, the current minister of state for petroleum resources.
Speaking in an interview with Punch, he said the NNPC is not under the supervision of the petroleum ministry.
"How can you refer to the NNPC as a parastatal? It is a parent body for all the subsidiaries carved out from it. It should not be under any ministry. Even now, it is not under any ministry.
"The NNPC is a parent body. Was there a Ministry of Petroleum Resources in (Shehu) Shagari’s time and during Buhari’s first term in government? Let me clarify this, what we have is the ‘Department of Petroleum Resources’ and not a ministry.
When quizzed if there's a mix-up since Kachikwu is the chairman of the NNPC board, he said "Buhari made him the chairman of the NNPC board. The chairman of that board does not have to be a minister.
Asked if Buhari isn't doing too much as a president and minister of petroleum, he replied:
People have forgotten what he said when he resumed as president. He said that he would hold that position for 18 months, during which he intended to straighten things up in the place. Actually, Buhari should be the chairman of the NNPC board and not Kachikwu, who is a minister without a portfolio in reality. It would be better if we scrapped the ‘minister of state’ which is superfluous and redundant.
Speaking in an interview with Punch, he said the NNPC is not under the supervision of the petroleum ministry.
"How can you refer to the NNPC as a parastatal? It is a parent body for all the subsidiaries carved out from it. It should not be under any ministry. Even now, it is not under any ministry.
"The NNPC is a parent body. Was there a Ministry of Petroleum Resources in (Shehu) Shagari’s time and during Buhari’s first term in government? Let me clarify this, what we have is the ‘Department of Petroleum Resources’ and not a ministry.
When quizzed if there's a mix-up since Kachikwu is the chairman of the NNPC board, he said "Buhari made him the chairman of the NNPC board. The chairman of that board does not have to be a minister.
Asked if Buhari isn't doing too much as a president and minister of petroleum, he replied:
People have forgotten what he said when he resumed as president. He said that he would hold that position for 18 months, during which he intended to straighten things up in the place. Actually, Buhari should be the chairman of the NNPC board and not Kachikwu, who is a minister without a portfolio in reality. It would be better if we scrapped the ‘minister of state’ which is superfluous and redundant.
