Inelegance and haphazardness in the conduct of affairs of the state must hold out certain benefits for governments in Nigeria, unknown to other citizens. The consistency in what appears to be deliberate muddling up of every possible aspect of the administration of public affairs is quite striking. As can be imagined, the price for this common slipshod approach to public administration has been steep for the country; but then, who cares? Every new administration comes determined, as it were, to continue where its predecessor stopped, or even outdo it in administrative sloppiness.
What is currently playing out at the state oil company, NNPC Limited, speaks of Nigerian government’s proclivity to create problems where none ought to exist. After over four decades of the existence of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), having been established in 1977, the Federal Government of Nigeria opted, obviously on good economic advice, to make a change in the structure and orientation of the national oil company.
Following the assent by President Muhammadu Buhari of the Petroleum Industry Act in August 2021, the government moved to align the state oil company to the dictates of the PIA. Thus was a new NNPC incorporated the same 2021 as an integrated energy company, now to be known as NNPC Limited. One year after, on July 19, 2022, Buhari unveiled the new limited liability company. The new oil company was touted at inception to be patterned to follow in the footsteps of Aramco of Saudi Arabia and Petrobras of Brazil, with their stellar profile in the global energy industry.
NNPC Limited was registered to duly comply with the relevant provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. In other words, the new oil company came prepared as a properly limited liability company, structured as a business concern, distinct from the old troublesome hazy, discordant and tardy mannerisms of its predecessor, which was more or less another government outlet. It is, of course, one thing to have a business plan and another thing to follow the plan through.
NNPC Limited was established to be an integrated energy company with a vast stretch of activities in the industry, covering upstream and downstream portfolios, as well as gas, power and new energy. For good measure, the company was built with the liberty to pursue other profitable business interests, even outside the energy sector, in Nigeria or abroad.
Not a few people were concerned from the outset about the prospects of NNPC Limited existing and operating as an unfettered business concern, for good reasons. When it comes to allowing business ventures it has any interest in to be free and thrive, government in Nigeria is like a bad ex-spouse. It just cannot seem to look away.
NNPC Limited was ushered in with fanfare, an energy behemoth in the making. The company was created to be a viable business concern. It was expected to be independent and not look up to the government for funding or any support. It was expected to file its annual reports and be audited according to the law. Above all, the company was expected to be profitable. All well and good. But then, the government retained the status of sole shareholder of NNPC Limited. This, without doubt, is an anti-climax of sorts. The arrangement instantly presented a spectre of NNPC as NNPC Limited. As arranged, the shares of NNPC Limited are presently held for the government by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated, in equal portions.
Then the government took the next instructive step, which also left no doubts about its intention not to let go. It was a step that took many industry watchers aback. Mele Kyari, group managing director of NNPC, was rolled over as chief executive of the new NNPC Limited. For many, at that point, the addition of Limited to NNPC was purely cosmetic. Maybe it was. In truth, though, there were arguments that also meaningfully supported Kyari being rolled over to oversee the transition of NNPC to NNPC Limited. It depends on how anyone decides to view the decision. In any case, the government remains in the driving seat. So, to all intents and purposes, not much changed for real.
Next, the Buhari government moved to constitute the board of the new NNPC Limited. That ought to be a straightforward matter. It did not turn out to be so. The spirit of sloppiness in government affairs promptly set in. In September 2021, not long after the new oil company was established, a new board was announced for it, with Senator Ifeanyi Ararume as chairman. Barely three months later, even before the board could effectively settle down, Buhari announced a replacement of the brand new chairman of the brand new independent NNPC Limited. In place of the former senator representing Imo North zone, Buhari brought in Margary Okadigbo, another former senator and wife of the late inimitable Senate President, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo. Ararume’s misfortune was said to derive from local politics back in Imo State. How Buhari as President could be so malleable as to visit the new NNPC Limited with such a problem beats imagination.
But then NNPC Limited is a limited liability company, obviously with rules guiding appointment to its board. Ararume proceeded to court to secure his appointment. Rules pertaining to such board appointments for limited liability companies under the CAMA provisions must have been violated. Buhari hardly cared about what the law said, anyway.
In due course, Ararume was given justice. The court affirmed his proper position as the duly appointed chairman of the board of NNPC Limited. He was even awarded a heavy sum as damages. For some time after the court ruled in favour of Ararume, however, the board of NNPC Limited reportedly remained stagnant as it were. Senator Okadigbo could not function on the board any longer. Ararume was yet to function either. Buhari, the man who caused the stalemate, could not be bothered. In due course, his presidency elapsed and he left office, leaving NNPC Limited and indeed all of Nigeria to sort themselves out.
Enter Bola Tinubu. Penultimate week, the new occupant of Aso Rock announced a new board for the NNPC Limited. Again, he retained Kyari as chief executive. With a clearly different trajectory of his administrative moves, Tinubu ignored the court affirmation of Ararume as NNPC Limited board chairman. He looked away from Mrs. Okadigbo too. He appointed his buddy, Pius Akinyelure, as the new chairman of the board. Whatever the court ruling affirmed in favour of Ararume, obviously, held no interest to the new sheriff.
For Ararume, it is a case of the struggle continues. Late last week the dogged claimant to the chairmanship of the board of the state oil company issued a vehement public announcement declaring the appointment of a new board for NNPC Limited by President Tinubu as illegal. Speaking through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, the senator informed the public that the new board appointment is in violation of a standing court order.
As he put it, he was “appalled and shocked that the President could brazenly disobey the court judgment by purporting to appoint a new board and management team for NNPC Limited instead of giving implementation to the said judgment of the federal High Court delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo on the 18th of April 2023”. The senator ended his public statement with caveat emptor; “the general public is warned to beware of those illegal appointments in their own interest…. anyone who goes ahead to do any business or transaction with them will be doing so at his or her own peril”.
Whether Tinubu will be impressed with the Senator’s claims is another matter. His predecessor was not known to often give a hoot about what the courts said. Tinubu, on the other hand, is known to have very good understanding of the working of the judiciary, so he may find a way around the problem. NNPC Limited does not need this avoidable problem.