We haven't unbundled NNPC

dimeji akinloye

March 9, 2016 9:05 PM

Kachikwu said the cooperation was only reorganized and not unbundled.

Nigeria's Oil Minister and OPEC president Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu addresses a news conference after a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader

Contrary to viral media reports, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,

Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said the cooperation was only reorganized and not unbundled.

READ: Kachikwu says fuel importation will end in 18 months

He explained further: “We have not unbundled NNPC. We had a press conference yesterday where I explained this. What we have simply done is reorganisation," Kachikwu who also Group Managing Director, GMD of the NNPC said.

"We have five business entities focused on business: Upstream, Downstream, Refineries, Gas and Power that are there before.

“There is also Ventures that capture all our little companies that were not having proper stewardship. They are run by individuals who report to the GMD. The NNPC is still a whole. There is nothing new that has happened.

“I have tried to explain this and I am sure the NNPC workers are members of the family, they will understand. We are going to have a meeting, and they will be made to understand. Perhaps the engagement has not been good enough.

“NNPC has not been unbundled in the sense of breaking up NNPC into distinct institutions. I am concerned. I don’t want the industry shut down. I am sure we are going to resolve the issues very soon”.

Following the unbundling reports, NNPC workers had shut down operations nationwide today, leaving the citizens to face the adverse effect, as long queues were recorded at filling stations across the country and commuters stranded.

dimeji akinloye