Buhari seeks NNPC boss’s replacement

Following the ministerial nomination, Senate careening and expected inauguration of the Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet, there are indications that President Buhari has begun moves for Kachikwu’s replacement as the NNPC boss.

Dr Ibe Kachikwu

Sources revealed that Buhari’s choice has already landed on three persons, including the Deputy Managing Director of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Alhaji Isa Mohammed Inuwa.

Kachikwu, who was appointed by the President on August 5th as the chief executive of the NNPC, making him the 17th Group Managing Director of the Corporation is among the 36 ministerial nominees cleared by the Senate. He is expected to emerge as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources as the president has said he would oversee the ministry as petroleum minister.

However, before joining NLNG, Inuwa was Group General Manager Corporate Services in NNPC.

According to the sources, the president was looking for Kachikwu’s replacement, as the NNPC head could not combine being a minister and NNPC’s GMD. He said that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) has been mandated to review the profiles of the three nominees for the position of the GMD of NNPC and make a recommendation to the president.

“The president would replace the NNPC GMD any moment from now. As you know, he has been nominated for ministerial job and cleared.

“The Office of the SGF has been asked to look at the profile of the three nominees for the job. I don’t know the names of the other two, but l can confirm to you that the DMD of the NLNG, Isa Mohammed Inuwa, is been favoured for the job,” the source stated.