Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu, has said the composition of the recently announced board members of the Nigeria petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has shown that President Muhammadu Buhari does not hate Ndigbo as largely believed in Igbo land.
Addressing reporters in Enugu yesterday, Okechukwu noted that President Buhari demonstrated experience and institutional knowledge of the petroleum industry in appointing members of the board. Okechukwu commended the President for putting together a broad-based Board for the newly created Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited.
The VON boss specifically praised the President for obliging Ndigbo the major slot of chairman, as well as the appointment of wife of former Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, and his first vice-presidential candidate, Lady Margery Chuba Okadigbo into the eight-member board of the NNPC. He explained that the President’s action is in consonance with Section 53(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
According to Okechukwu, the PIA requires the Minister of Petroleum Resources to cause for the incorporation of the NNPC Limited within six months of commencement of the Act in consultation with the Minister of Finance on the nominal shares of the company
“The President has directed the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari, to take necessary steps to ensure that the incorporation of the NNPC Limited is consistent with the provisions of the PIA 2021,” he recalled.
“Most importantly, I thank the President immensely for these appointments in the hope that he will further work towards closing the chapter of Igbo marginalisation by supporting the election of a Nigeria President of Igbo extraction in 2023.”
