Why There Is Nothing Special In PMB’s Decision To Dismiss NNPC Board

Two members of the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration reacted to Friday’s order by the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The officials of the previous cabinet shared their views with a correspondent of SaharaReporters on conditions of anonymity.

They noted that that there was no reason for President Buhari to send a letter to the board of the NNPC to dissolve it.

“That act [President Buhari’s dissolution of the NNPC board] is null since there was no board in place after the former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke left office,” one of the sources said.

Nine members of the dissolved 10-member NNPC board. Photo: NTA

According to the Petroleum Act, the NNPC board stood dissolved the moment erstwhile the minister of petroleum resources left her office on May 29, 2015, the day when the tenure of the current president has started.

A second speaker, who was related to the dismissed board, said that the immediate past administration left USD5 billion in the accounts for the Buhari government. The funds were formed by dividends from liquefied natural gas sale.

However, Babs Omotowa, the chief executive of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas company (NLNG), claimed that the company paid USD1.6 billion in dividends to the new government. The NLNG is a joint venture between the Nigerian government and multinational oil companies.

This figure contradicts to the amount named by the Jonathan’s official.

The speaker said this contradiction can be explained in two ways. Either President Buhari was hiding the correct amount paid to his government in order to justify his claim of inheriting “an empty treasury”, or the NLNG was playing a game on Nigerians.

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