NNPCL: From Nepotism To The Unexplained Deals In NNPC Retail

First and foremost, we are all aware of the news of the passage of PIB after decades of attempts and the eventual assent by Former President Muhammadu Buhari on 22nd August 2021.

The event was to herald a new dawn for the Petroleum industry in Nigeria and put the country on the path of greatness again.

However, the gains of the PIA are being marred by the high-handedness of the NNPCL GCEO.

The NNPC Limited, though a company now, is still 100% owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated.

That said, one would expect appointments into the Senior Management Team to reflect the ethno-religious diversity of the Nigerian Nation.

However, that is not the case with NNPCL under the leadership of MKK. Out of the first eight positions available (The GCEO, the CFO and 6 Executive Vice Presidents’ positions), six (6) of those went to the North while a paltry two (2) were allotted to the South – South West and South South specifically.

The South East is still being maligned, disenfranchised and mistreated. The implication is that we are saying that there is no single individual from South East extraction, capable of holding such positions. One could argue that it was not within the prerogative of the GCEO to appoint EVPs but the board.

True, but it is common knowledge that the current Board only dances to the tune of their paymaster.. MKK.

Similarly, most of the key SBUs are being manned by Northerners- NUIMS, NEPL, NTL, NGMC, NGIC, etc. More on the rot of the system in the Upstream will be exposed in a short while, but the focus now is on the downstream segment of the company NNPC Retail.

NNPC Retail Limited- A sad story Under the leadership of various Nigerian directors and hardworking and patriotic staff, the company has grown from two stations to over 500 stations in every state and most municipalities of Nigeria. The company has been profitable for the past five years, even though most of NNPC’s other SBUs posted negative numbers.

The company also saved the country from the collusion of former marketers to hold government ransoms for petty demands. Over the years, the company has successfully stabilized the downstream sector that supplies petroleum products to Nigerians, alleviating their suffering in times of needless resource scarcity.

Last year, the industry celebrated the announcement of the acquisition of OVH Energy Marketing Company by NNPCL. But the narrative surrounding this acquisition and the subsequent actions of the MKK-led board led many to ask, “Who bought whom?”

For context, a lot of information about the deal was shrouded in secrecy.

The big question here is how do you sell assets that you don’t own? Further investigation revealed that many of the stations allegedly owned and sold to NNPCL were in disrepair, with Nigerian taxpayers’ money now being used to rebuild and rehabilitate them. At the time of this report, the location of the LPG facility included in the list of assets sold to NNPCL is unknown.

Could it be that they are audio facilities?

NNPC Retail has been managed by Nigerian MDs and homegrown directors with distinguished careers in the oil and gas industry. Together with the employees, they have achieved great success and have been able to bring a commensurate income to the NNPC Group. But after the acquisition of OVH, employees were shocked by the announcement that OVHEM’s CEO, Caucasian Huub Stokmann, would become the company’s managing director.

How can they justify not having a competent Nigerian to fill that position? One can only wonder what will become of the talented people within the organization who dream of leading NNPC Retail to glory. Some of these people are well-respected and talented employees poached from major downstream companies such as Total, Mobil and now 11 Plc who have been part of the NNPC Retail’s success story since joining in 2013?

Even stranger is the way Hubb Stokman has led the organization since taking office. He first imposed all the OVH executives on NNPC Retail. Today, none of NNPC Retail’s employees is among the leaders of the company they worked so hard to build. Where does this take place?

Only at NNPCL under the guidance of MKK. The news in the media is that NNPCL acquired OVH, but a better narration that reflects reality should be “OVH buys NNPC Retail Limited for Paymaster”. Otherwise, how is it justified for NNPCL to acquire the assets from OVH when OVH controls NNPC Retail? If their management prowess was so fantastic, why was the company under the leadership of Stokmann, seriously indebted and made losses for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, 2022)?

Oh, people say numbers don’t lie. Below is a comparison of NNPC Retail and OVH performance from 2019 to 2021. (The 2022 report is yet to be released, but from January to September performance of OVH was in the red, higher than it was in 2021.) From the above, it is clear that NNPC Retail performed much better than the supposedly better-managed OVH in terms of Revenue, Market Share and Profitability.

How come MKK is imposing the executives of a failing company over a thriving NNPC Retail? is there an agenda that Nigerians do not know about? The actions of Mr. Huub have caused disaffection, disunity, and demotivation amongst the core NNPC Retail staff. Flagrant disregard of Section 57 of the PIA “Upon incorporation of NNPC Limited under section 53 of this Act, employees of NNPC and its subsidiaries shall be deemed to be employees of NNPC Limited on terms and conditions not less favourable than that enjoyed prior to the transfer of service and shall be deemed to be service for employment related entitlements as specified under any applicable law.”

The law under this act is very clear, yet MKK is yet to comply with the provision of the Act in the treatment of NNPC RETAIL staff. They are still treated as though they were subsidiary staff, with less remuneration and opportunities in the new company.

It is high time the excesses of MKK are curbed, else, NNPC Retail and NNPCL may be run aground. A good starting point: a. Investigation on the acquisition of OVH b. Immediate sacking of the MD, NNPC RETAIL c. Reversal of the appointments into Executive Positions in NNPC Retail d. Implementation of Section 57 of the PIA by absorbing all NNPC Retail staff to the group on condition not less favorable than the ones their counterparts currently enjoy.

Leftist Omobude Agho is the convener of The Left Movement of Nigeria, LMN

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