Jonathan Appoints Chief of Staff,Why NNPC Boss was Sacked.

Daniel Idonor 17 May 2010

President Goodluck Jonathan has announced the appointment of the Principal Secretary to the Vice President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe as Chief of Staff, COS to the President, thereby returning to the status quo ante, where the office of the COS had existed until late President Umaru Yar'Adua abolished it

And barely less than a month after his appointment as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the President Monday ordered the immediate sack of Alhaji Shehu Ladan.

According to a statement by the new special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ima Niboro, Jonathan has approved the appointment of the Group Executive Director (GED), Refineries and Petrochemicals, of NNPC, Mr Austin Oniwon, as the new GMD.

The new GMD of the NNPC, the statement said, hails from Okene in Kogi State.

"Mr. Austin Oniwon has been appointed Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Oniwon who hails from Okene in Kogi State, was until his appointment, the Group Executive Director, Refineries and Petrochemicals, of NNPC", the statement said.

Also, following petitions of large-scale malfeasance against the outgoing and other past GMDs, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered that a world class audit firm be engaged to carry out a full scale investigation into the accounts of the state owned NNPC, essentially in the recent past.

Besides, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe who is now the new Chief of Staff to the President, the statement added that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Energy Matters, Mallam Hassan Tukur has also been appointed as the Principal Secretary to the President. He takes over from the former Principal Secretary to President, Mr David Edevbie.

Also appointed is Mr. Ima Niboro as a substantive Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, to the President. He has since taken over from the former Special Adviser Media and Publicity, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi.

"The President has also directed a comprehensive audit of NNPC accounts. The Finance minister is to engage the services of a world class auditing firm to carry out the audit", it stressed.

The President, according the statement "thanked the outgoing Principal Secretary to the President, David Edevbie, and outgoing GMD, NNPC, Shehu Ladan, for their services and wished them well in their future endeavours".

Why Ladan was Sacked

Investigation by Vanguard revealed that the sack of Shehu Ladan who was appointed NNPC's GMD barely a month ago may have been informed by reports on him that he does not believe in the vision of President Jonathan to reform the ailing NNPC.

It was learnt that while it is the vision of President Jonathan to carry out a comprehensive reform of the state-own oil and gas trading company to enable it compete favourably with similar entities across the globe such as the Petro-Brass among others, the outgoing GMD think differently.

It was further gathered that rather than focus on the mandate of improving productivity in his new office, on assumption of office, the sacked NNPC boss was said to have engaged in "business-as-usual", a practice that was a common feature of his predecessors.

Another newspaper is saying Ladan was sacked because Jonathan wants him to be the new deputy Governor of Kaduna State. You never know where the lie or the truth is.

Be that as it may,In the present Nigeria,The office of the deputy governor in many state is ceremonial and void of any influence whatsoever,you and I knows that the office of the NNPC GMD wields a bigger axe and handle,Except if he is going there for some specific deal.
Please, Is he already nominated for the deputy governor's position?.

If somebody is sacked from a federal position for a weakness, I wonder how he could be qualified to be a deputy governor of a state. Are they saying that anything goes in the states?

I wonder,If that happens ,then the state is in soup,They are making merchandise of the state as their personal property.

The point is Reporters try to justify their reports by adding whatever they feel is safe and cannot be detected. They create what they think would please their Bosses and attribute them to 'sources' of all descriptions. Ladan has never been a politician in any sense of the word. There is not even a whisper of his name in the probable list created on assumptions. So you now can see that the whole thing is nonsense.