NASS Backs FG On Restructuring Of NNPC

NATIONAL Assembly yesterday overwhelmingly supported the ongoing restructuring of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which had led to the shutting down of the nation’s oil giant by the protesting workers over fear of retrenchment saying that the exercise was within ambit of the law that set up the corporation

 

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who also doubles as the Group Managing Director, NNPC was summoned before the National Assembly Joint committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream, Downstream) and Gas to explain the rationale behind the restructuring exercise.  

In his explanation, he said the restricting of the Corporation was in the overall interest of the country adding that unknown to the protesters,the exercise was aimed at creating more employment opportunities rather than being apprehensive of retrenchment in view of the development.

Although the committee regretfully noted that the Federal Government didn’t consult it prior to the exercise, nevertheless, it gave it a clean bill stating that the decision was thoughtful and flawless. Emphatically, the NNPC boss told the committee that restructuring the corporation was inevitable in its drive to offset its $5.2 billion indebtedness adding that it is strategically putting machinery in place towards reducing its current N30 billion monthly losses.

Responding, Kachikwu who expressed regrets over his ministry’s failure to carry the committee along, however said that the cardinal objective of the restructuring exercise was to boost productivity and efficiency lamenting that the big structure encouraged indolence as well as other nonchalant features over the years. He assured that with the reorganisation apart from the multiple jobs opportunities it will create; employees will resume having works to do on their table rather than the routine reading of newspapers.

“I must apologise that we didn’t take some senate leadership along the path of this restructuring, but if you look at the draft of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) sent to us for our input, you will discover that the restructuring was within the suggestion we made.

“Having said that, I must take responsibility for not carrying out the necessary consultation as we should have done”, Kachikwu said.

Briefing journalists after the closed session, Chairman, of the Joint Committee, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, described the interactive session promising and rewarding adding that the three committees were convinced that his action was legal and would promote efficiency in NNPC, generate more revenue and guarantee availability of the product.

“We have a very useful discussion with the minister. He clarified the issue that he was not unbundling NNPC because it is an entity created by an Act of the National Assembly and nobody can touch it unless he comes back to the National Assembly for amendments.

“Having looked at what he did and the presentation he made to us, and having considered the welfare of its staff of NNPC and those working in the subsidiaries that were affected by the reorganisation done in the sector, we found out that the staff would not be shortchanged, nor deprived of his employment.

“We also found out that he had not contravened the law because we were worried that he might be acting against the law but having looked at the law with him, we found out that he did not contravened the law.

“We also told him that he ought to have done more consultation with the National Assembly for which he apologized and he said that henceforth, more consultations will be done. We feel that he is working in the best interest of Nigeria.

“We want all Nigerians to support him so that we can get out of the mess in which we have found ourselves in this country today. One good thing today is that the price of fuel is going up and if we don’t do the reorganisation when we are in trouble, it may be more difficult for us to do anything when the price goes up.

“We will continue to pray that the price of oil will be going up and Nigeria will be better. What the minister has done is the internal reorganisation of NNPC. From the figure given to us by the NNPC, the organisation is making about N30bn loss every month, if we continue like that, there is no time we are going to get out of the hole which we found ourselves.

“With the gradual reorganisation that the minister has been doing before, the loss of the NNPC as of last month was only $3 billion. He is already assuring us that by July 2016, that we would have gotten to a level that NNPC will not be making any loss any longer.

“The only way to do it is to put all hands on the plough. Let everybody work for his pay. Let there be no fat cow that will just suck without contributing anything”, Alasoadura said.

Analytically, the reorganisation of the NNPC will certainly lead to more employment opportunities, enhance productivity in the sector and above all, boost economic activities in the country at large. This is premised on the activities in the new subsidiaries as well as all the workforce required to meet the manpower.