Out: Funsho Kupolokun has been fired as head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
Yar’Adua fires NNPC head
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has removed Funso Kupolokun as head of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), his office said today.
The next most senior executive at NNPC, Abubakar Yar'Adua - not a relative of the president - will take over the job of group managing director of NNPC until further notice, a statement from the president’s office said.
No reason was given for Kupolokun's removal. Nigerian newspapers had speculated for several days that the new president was dissatisfied with the management of NNPC and Kupolokun was on his way out.
The president, who took office on 29 May, had promised a shake-up of the energy sector, particularly the downstream side.
"It's pretty standard for people in key para-statals to change with a change of administration, although NNPC has been the subject of criticism in recent weeks over management of refineries and allegations of corruption," Antony Goldman, an independent expert on the Nigerian energy sector, told Reuters.
NNPC controls crude oil extraction through joint ventures with five Western oil majors and is in charge of Nigeria's four dysfunctional refineries, while some of its subsidiaries are involved in importing refined products.
The corporation was named as one of the beneficiaries of bribes allegedly given by a former executive at Willbros in an indictment filed last month by US prosecutors, although no NNPC official was named in the indictment.
Abubakar Yar'Adua joined NNPC in 1977 and has been its group executive director in charge of refineries and petrochemicals since 2003.
President Yar'Adua also chose a new special adviser on petroleum, Emmanuel Egbogah, the statement from his office said.