The board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has not been meeting since its inaugural meeting in July, 2012, sources told Daily Trust.
The board, chaired by Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, is mandated by the NNPC Act of 1977 to meet not less than four times in each year.
“The affairs of the Corporation shall, subject to Part II of this Act, be conducted by a Board of Directors of the Corporation,” the law also says.
The act provides three-year tenure for the board, which means that the incumbent board has already spent half of its term.
Officials who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity said the board never met again since its maiden meeting.
Two letters written to the corporation since last year seeking for information on the activities of the board have not been replied to.
Another letter was written as a reminder to both offices of theminister and Group Managing Director, NNPC but no reply yet.
The first letter written to both the minister and the GMD was dated December 12, 2013. The reminder letters dated March 14, 2014 were received by the Corporation and the minister’s office on March 17, 2014. The reminder letters read in part “This is to remind you that we are yet to get your response to our letter dated December 12, 2013 with the following content:
In the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act, I write to request for the following information:
“1. When the board of the NNPC was inaugurated 2. The number of meetings it has held since inauguration 3. If none why such meetings have not been held”
But a spokesman for NNPC, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, told Daily Trust by telephone penultimate Friday that the board has been meeting. “When you asked me about it last time, I told you they have been meeting.” Members of the NNPC board are Group Managing Director Engr. Andrew Yakubu, Mr. Bernard O.N. Otti, Hamman A. Sambo, Alhaji Abdullahi Bukar, Mr. Daniel Wadzani, Prof. Olusegun Okunnu, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, Mr. Steven Oronsaye and Mr. Anthony Madichie [replaced by Mr Ikechukwu Oguine about a week ago].
At their inaugural meeting last year, Mrs Alison-Madueke said, “The last fully constituted board of NNPC was dissolved in 2007. However, given the nature of the corporation’s business, the then president, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, granted approval for the constitution of an interim board chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources with the GMD and GEDs as members. This interim situation remained so until your recent appointment on July 16, 2012.”
The NNPC Act, in the First Schedule, says: “The Board shall meet not less than four times in each year and on such other occasions as the Board may consider necessary.
“Every meeting of the Board shall be presided over by the Chairman and if the Chairman is unable to attend any particular meeting, a member may be appointed by the members present to act as Chairman for that particular meeting. Daily Trust learnt that in most cases, only top management staff meets without the presence of the minister.
“A quorum at a meeting of the Board shall consist of four members of whom at least one shall be a member appointed under paragraph (d) of section 1 (2) of this Act.
“Where standing orders made under paragraph 4 of this Schedule provide for the Board to co-opt persons who are not members of the Board, such persons may advise the Board on any matter referred to them by the Board, but shall not be entitled to vote at a meeting of the Board.”
Part of the functions of the board include approving of budget for the corporation, contract awards, among others. The Board may also make regulations providing for the conditions of service of its employees; the grant of pensions, gratuities and other retiring benefits to its employees and their dependants, and the grant of gratuities to the estates or dependants of its deceased employees.
Source: DAILY TRUST
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