As the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha assumes office tomorrow, observers of developments in the petroleum industry under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration are already asking the question of how long the new GMD will last on the seat before he is replaced.
Dawha, whose appointment the federal government announced last Friday to replace Engineer Andrew Yakubu, is the fifth NNPC GMD under the supervision of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. Under her, it has been an average of one NNPC GMD a year.
It was learnt that the minister has been having a running battle with Engineer Yakubu, especially following the various probes by the National Assembly, which project the NNPC as being corrupt. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the N10 billion private jet hire outcry. It was learnt that Engineer Yakubu refused to approve the renewal of the jet hire contract, hence the minister insisted on his removal.
Dr Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, who was GMD when the minister took over in April 2010, was the first casualty, the same April, in the incumbent Petroleum Minister’s regime. Although, as in the latest removal the Presidency didn’t offer any reason for Barkindo’s sack, the talk in the industry was that he was considered too close to his former boss, the late Rilwanu Lukman, who died last month.
In ousting Barkindo, President Jonathan brought back Mallam Shehu Ladan who had earlier been retired in April 2009 from the NNPC. But within just a month of his arrival, Mallam Ladan got his exit letter. Government didn’t bother to give reason for the shock sack. The buzz in the industry this time was that Mrs Alison-Medueke didn’t feel comfortable working with Ladan.
Austen Oniwon was next to be appointed the GMD under her, in May 2010. Oniwon was a little luckier than his two immediate predecessors because the Petroleum Resources minister asked him, with the support of the President, to remain in office even after his retirement age.
Eventually, he was sacked two years later and replaced by Engineer Andrew Yakubu in June 2012. Yakubu was celebrated by the Presidency when he was appointed. In the press release to announce his appointment, the President, through Abati, said that Yakubu’s appointment was “to further strengthen the ongoing reforms and transformation of Nigeria’s petroleum sector, and in furtherance of efforts to achieve greater transparency and accountability in government.”
Yakubu had not been in office for long when the talk began to circulate that there was no love lost between him and the Petroleum Resources minister. A report said though the two shared offices in the same building, they wouldn’t see each other for days. Sources said Yakubu had not been cooperating with some of Alison-Madueke’s demands, and had long submitted his name for sack to the President.
Although under Yakubu’s two-year administration, the NNPC had gone through series of challenges that threatened its integrity and accountability, many staffers of the Corporation commended his doggedness and concern to their welfare, and his insistence on due process in the management of the affairs of the Corporation.
One contentious issue he was said not to be comfortable with was the disagreement between the NNPC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over an alleged unremitted $49.8 billion crude oil revenue. A lot of Nigerians are yet to be convinced about how much exact amount is missing.
As Dr Dahwa steps in as the new NNPC GMD, industry stakeholders are watching with bated breath to see for how long he would be able to cope with the oily intrigues there. With some analysts linking Yakubu’s removal and the installation of a replacement to issue of funds as the general elections come up next year, Dahwa’s major challenge may well just be how to judiciously manage the Corporation’s funds.
Dr Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo - Jan 2009; Mallam Shehu Ladan- April 2010; Engr. Austen Oniwon-May 2010; Engr. Andrew Yakubu -June 2012; Dr Joseph Thlama Dawha- August 2014.
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