NNPC: To reform or to Kill -By Ikeogu Oke

Against the backdrop of the recent call to kill the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, we should look in the direction of Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of Boko Haram, and the intractable problem the Islamist sect has morphed into following his summary execution after his arrest in 2009, in order to appreciate the disastrous consequences of killing what we have the option to reform, like the NNPC.

One of the reasons for the precipitate call to end corporation’s life is alleged corruption. And perhaps, Engr. Sa’ad to buttress his implied call for caution might have wished our president recalled that allegations of corruption in the NNPC have a long history dating back to when the corporation fell under his charge as the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources from 1976-1978.

During his tenure as Commissioner, N2.8 billion allegedly went missing from the accounts of the NNPC. The allegation was later found to be false by the Crude Oil Sales Tribunal of Inquiry headed by the late Justice Ayo Irikefe. This reminder is not meant to defend the NNPC from the charge of corruption. But it prompts some valid questions even
President Buhari should reflect on with wisdom, namely: “If such a serious allegation of corruption levelled against the NNPC while under his supervision many years ago could be false, why not now? Could this be a case of history repeating itself? Or a false charge assuming a new disguise while running a marathon?”

And I raise these questions just to reinforce the case for caution in heeding the call to kill or scrap the corporation even by people who seem to see nothing wrong in being judges in their own case, given that Governor el-Rufai – and another State Governor who has accused the NNPC of corruption – are members of the panel set up by the National Economic Council (NEC) to probe the allegations against the corporation, which they have openly canvassed the necessity to kill even before the investigation has commenced, infecting the case of the accused with deadly prejudice.

Unfortunately, the current allegation of corruption against the NNPC appears to be a rehash of the self-evidently unjustifiable allegation by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the corporation failed to remit $49.8 billion to the Federal Government, implying that the money had been stolen. As if realising that this amount was too large to steal, Sanusi later revised it to $12 billion and finally settled for $20 billion, casting doubt on the allegation by engaging in what seemed like guesswork. Only the currency seems to have changed, so we have N3.8 trillion for $49.8 billion at the “prevailing” exchange rate.
Even the other allegation that the NNPC’s practice of withholding part of its earnings before remitting the rest to the Federal Government breaches the law further reinforces the need for caution already flagged above. For those behind the allegation may be unaware
that Section 7 Sub-section A and B of the NNPC Act partly states that “The Corporation shall maintain a fund which shall consist … such monies as may be received by the Corporation in the course of its operations or in relation to the exercise by the Corporation of any of the functions under this Act, and from such fund there shall be defrayed all expenses incurred by the Corporation.”

The wisdom of the above provision may not strike home unless we imagine such situations where the NNPC may have to repair its gas pipelines damaged by vandals, causing disruption in the flow of electricity as we have experienced in recent times. In such cases, the provision frees it from the hamstring of external bureaucracies in assessing fund promptly to respond to national emergencies in which delay may lead to huge losses to the economy.

And the right measure, I think, is to improve the conduct of the NNPC by improving such statutory provisions and due diligence in ensuring its strict compliance with any better laws that may replace them. Not to kill the corporation.