The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, has warned that the split of the corporation into two entities could generate some tension between the unions in the corporation if not properly managed.
Baru noted that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, recently passed by the National Assembly, required the minister to within six months after its enactment take necessary steps to incorporate the entities, namely the Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company and the Nigeria Petroleum Company, as companies limited by shares to be vested with certain liabilities and assets of the NNPC.
“The current National Assembly identified the bogus packaging of the Petroleum Industry Bill as a single legal instrument as a major hindrance to its passage and decided to present a number of smaller, more detailed bills,” he said in Lagos at the annual conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria.
The PIB was split into four parts – PIGB, Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and Petroleum Host Community Bill.
According to him, the PIGB seeks to create an avenue for better investment opportunities, make the petroleum sector more transparent and ensure better accountability of revenue derived from the nation’s vast oil and gas resources.
On the split of the NNPC, Baru said, “Engagement with staff and consultation with individuals and establishment with institutional memory of how the issue of staff movement was handled when the DPR was expunged from the NNPC is necessary.”
He noted that the initial shares of the NNPC would be held by the Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated (40 per cent), the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (40 per cent) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (20 per cent).
The GMD added, “However, 10 per cent and an additional 30 per cent of the shares of the company shall be floated on the Nigerian Stock Exchange within five yearsand 10 years from incorporation, respectively.
“On the issue of divestment of 40 per cent of the NNPC shares to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, there is a need for clarity on the process of the divestment and the steps should be clearly provided in the law.
“There is a need for clarity regarding the nature of the NNPC liability to be transferred to the Nigeria Petroleum Liability Management Company, asides from outstanding pension obligations of the DPR. There is a need to provide adequate clarity on the type and nature of liability to be inherited and the process for the settlement of such liability.”
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