Feedback on Farooq’s fallacy

“I haven’t independently confirmed the accuracy of this claim” is one of the many clauses used by Mr. Farooq Kperogi, which sufficiently discredited his opinion in his latest article.

Labouring hard to build a temple on a muddy foundation of nothing, the US-based journalism teacher, in the article titled, ‘Tinubu’s Buharisation of the NNPC,’  took gossip and hearsay to a new level.

The thematic preoccupation of his write-up was undisguised; to paint President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as an ethnic champion bent on ensuring his kinsmen got all juicy appointments in the Oil & Gas industry.

To achieve this, he resorted to quotes by a  certain ‘don’t let anyone know it came from me fallacy” from a friend the Professor was not even proud to name.

In one swoop, the opinion writer used one brush to paint everyone of certain ethnic group at the management level of the oil industry black.

Kperogi among other objections also based on the gossip with his friend, opposed the appointment of a Southerner as the Head of the oil industry regulator, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). To Kperogi, Tinubu should have, immediately after assuming office, sacked the head of regulatory agency appointed by Buhari, his predecessor, with no reason other than the part of the country where the man hailed from.

in his strange permutations, President Tinubu should retain all northern technocrats appointed by  Buhari, but sack the head of regulatory agency because the man is of Yoruba decent like Tinubu, to ensure ethnic balance.

Referencing his “friend’s” “complaint” Kperogi said:

“His concern is that Tinubu, from the Southwest, is already the minister of petroleum. Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum and Chairman of the NNPC, is from the South-South. Chief Pius Akinyelure from the Southwest is NNPC’s Non-Executive Board Chairman. The head of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Mr. Bala Wunti, my acquaintance pointed out, has been replaced by one Seyi Omotowa. Gbenga Komolafe is the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), making him the highest-ranking upstream regulator. If a Yoruba man were to be the GMD, another Yoruba man is the Chairman, and yet another Yoruba man is the regulator, that’s extreme lopsidedness,” and other parts of Nigeria would be justified to feel uncomfortable, my acquaintance said.

Farooq’s Turn-by-Turn or Village-by-village Model For Oil Industry Regulation

Mr. Kperogi, with the thoughts above, displayed his scanty knowledge of oil industry best practices. While the model he marketed unsuccessfully in his article could be viewed as prioritising ethnic considerations for appointment at the oil industry, the regulation of the space should be and has been insulated from his model by President Tinubu with the appointment of Engineer Gbenga Komolafe as the Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC.

Verifiable statistics showed that the regulatory stratum of the industry has, over the years, turned a blind eye to ethnocentrism, a decision that has made the leadership of the space to be dominated by men from the north with no noise or known criticism from the south.

The Pre-Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) leadership of oil and gas agencies showed that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was headed by Mallam Abdulkadir Saidu; the Petroleum Equalisation Fund ( PEF) was headed by Alhaji Boboi Ahmed; the Department of Petroleum Resources by Mallam Sarki Auwalu, while Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau was the helmsman at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

In this age and century, Mr. Kperogi is now advocating ethnicity as a consideration for anyone who should head an agency that will regulate an industry with active participation from Royal Dutch Shell, American oil multinationals like ExxonMobil and Chevron, France-headquartered TotalEnergies, Italian Agip among UK stock exchange-listed oil giants like Seplat and others.

While Kperogi admitted that giving people appointments based on their ethnic identities is of no benefit to their ethnic groups, he should be reminded that the no-ethnicity consideration template in place has been yielding results.

Over Two Years In The Saddle

With the appointment of the Commission’s Chief Executive, which has nothing to do with the location of the village where he was born, the NUPRC has recorded a lot of achievements over the last two years of its existence.

Kudos should be given to former President Muhammadu Buhari for his directive to the Commission to take over the supervision of all crude oil export terminals in Nigeria, while also mandating the NMDPRA to hands off activities relating to the regulatory work at crude oil export terminals in the country.

The first key achievement recorded by the commission which could be fact-checked on the basis of the positive feedback that had been received was their success in restoring investor confidence into the industry, considering the importance of confidence to attracting investments.

The NUPRC has also been able to develop 18 key regulations and five of these regulations have been fully gazetted while the rest of the items are being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice with optimism that those 18 will be gazetted within the shortest possible time so that implementation of those regulations can commence in earnest.

Also, the NUPRC had been able to ensure the conversion of 40 Oil Prospecting Licences (OPLs) and Petroleum Mining Licenses (PMLs) to Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) and Petroleum Mining Leases. Additionally, the commission had been able to incorporate 74 Host Community Development Trusts (HCDT), which is a key part of the host community provisions in the PIA, and this has engendered a sense of ownership into the host communities.

However, unlike the pre-PIA regime, there is now clarity in the oil and gas industry and that issue of discretion had been abolished in the industry. As a country, we now operate with clarity and our decisions are fully guided by the law.

Asides these feats mentioned above, the Commission has equally been able to automate its processes in a manner that ensures operational efficiency, which they felt was key in effectively regulating the upstream sector.

The Regulatory Commission has also taken over the supervision of all crude oil export terminals in Nigeria, in accordance with Chapter 1, Part 3 of the PIA, which provides for the functions of the Commission while Part 4, Chapter 1 of the PIA provides clearly statutory functions of the Authority.

Oil Blocks Bid Round Drill and Gains for Industry

The NUPRC has also begun the recovery of idle oil blocks in Nigeria as it announced a fresh oil licensing round for 2025. The 2025 licensing round will focus on underexplored assets, fallow fields, and natural gas development as part of Nigeria’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The commission emphasized that it aims to make the licensing rounds an annual event to address challenges such as declining production and rising global competition.

Key information given by the commission about the 2025 licensing rounds include:

1. 2025 licensing round will focus on underexplored assets, fallow fields, and natural gas development as part of Nigeria’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
2. To address declining production levels and increased global competition demand strategic action.
3. Not discretionary by the commission, but it’s in line with the statutory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act. The law stipulates that the commission should conduct licensing rounds.
4. The blocks for 2025 bid round will be harvested from idle assets recovery programme known as ‘drill or drop,’ which the commission has begun based on the provision of the Petroleum Industry Act.

Winners Emerged For 2022/2023, and 2024 Bid Round

Already, winners have emerged for the 2022/2023 Deep offshore Licensing Round and the 2024 Licensing Round. These results were announced at the 2024 Commercial Bid Conference organised by the commission in Lagos.

The results showed six winning bidders and four reserve bidders in the 2022/2023 DEEP OFFSHORE LICENCING ROUND while 19 winning bidders and six reserve bidders were announced for the 2024 licensing round.

In a massive display of openness and transparency names of  oil blocks and their winners were made public by the Commission and are still available on its website till this day  

Last Line

For Nigeria to increase the pace of its growth in the oil industry, appointment into leadership offices within the space should, in fact, be insulated from political, ethnic or religious considerations.

– Okonta is a Lagos-based researcher and scholar with interest in Oil & Gas matters.

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