One of them who is a director in the NNPC, while speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, alleged that Baru had been warned several times against sidelining the apex body of the corporation. According to him, in one of such instances, Baru was accused of making appointments into the NNPC without the approval of the board. The director said during the 124th session of the NNPC Board meeting, Baru was allegedly criticised for appointing the Managing Director of NNPC Retail without informing the board. Members of the board complained that they learnt of the appointment in the media. He said, “Kachikwu, pleaded with the board that the appointment of the MD of NNPC Retail Limited without recourse to the board should be treated as part of a learning curve and stated that going forward, management should present to the board a number of candidates that should be considered for such appointments for board evaluation before making appointments.” The director also claimed that Baru was criticised at a separate meeting for attempting to submit the budget of the NNPC directly to Buhari without the input of Kachikwu or the board. He also re-echoed the complaints in Kachikwu’s leaked memo that Baru had been approving contracts through the NNPC Tenders Board and taking documents directly to Buhari under the pretext that Buhari is the substantive minister of petroleum. The NNPC director further told one of our correspondents that NNPC and Schlumberger in June signed a tripartite agreement for the development of the Anyala and Madu fields under oil mining leases OMLs 83 and 85, offshore Bayelsa State worth over $700m. He said it was not until Schlumberger released a statement to the media that the board heard about the contract According to him, following Baru’s alleged circumvention of the board in the award of contracts, the Finance and General Purpose Committee of the NNPC board and the NNPC management sought legal opinion from external experts. “Since the National Council on Public Procurement had not been appointed by the President, the Bureau of Public Procurement’s manual regarding the composition of the NNPC Tenders Board is merely advisory and not law.” “In essence, the NNPC board, as the apex authority, with its fiduciary relationship with the corporation and the onerous liability exposure that it has, is not prohibited from approving contracts by the Public Procurement Act,” he added. Meanwhile, sources close to the NNPC GMD told SUNDAY PUNCH that the Act establishing the NNPC stipulates that the chairman of the corporation’s board is the Minister of Petroleum Resources and not the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. President Muhammadu Buhari is Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources while Kachikwu is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. However, Buhari had named Kachikwu the chairman of the NNPC board. According to them, Baru did no wrong by reporting to the President on issues of the oil firm, as he was only obeying the NNPC Act. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source who is highly-placed in the corporation said, “The NNPC Act does not recognise a minister of state. The act is explicit that the petroleum minister is the chairman of the NNPC board.” When asked if Buhari was not aware of the NNPC Act before announcing a chairman for the corporation’s board, the source replied, “These were some of the issues raised at the meetings the President is holding. “The NNPC GMD reports to the corporation board chairman, who of course, is the President. He (Baru) goes to the chairman because that is what the Act says.” Punch To Receive Free News Updates, Add To Your WhatsApp: 08033857245; For Adverts Enquiries, Call 08083609209, To Publish Your Articles Or News Stories, Email editor@skytrendnews.com. READ ALSO! Between GoDaddy And Namecheap: Making The Best Choice For Domain Name Registrar READ ALSO! Google Developing New Tools To Enhance Article Search For News Publishers On Subscription READ ALSO! The Hurdles Nigerian Youths Must Cross By 2019, By Dele Momodu READ ALSO! The Internet’s Future Lies With Its Next Billion Users — Sundar Pichai, Google CEO READ ALSO! Nigerian Filmmaker, Zuriel Oduwole Makes Forbes List Of 100 Most Influential African Women READ ALSO! Woman Marries Her Son After Getting Pregnant For Him READ ALSO! Smartphone Sales Fall As Samsung, Apple Consolidate Market Share READ ALSO! The Smart CEO: Top 5 Websites To Get Cheap Domain Name Registration ]]>