An investigative report by Premium Times has revealed that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, has allegedly been lying about his university degree awarded by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
The minister has made several public claims that he graduated from the institution with first class honours, a claim that's repeated on his official biography page on the website of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and his Wikipedia page.
"Dr. Ibe Kachikwu is a distinction graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and Nigerian Law School. He bagged First Class degree in Law and was best graduand and multiple awards winner from both Institutions," his profile read.
A screenshot of Kachikwu's profile on the website of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources website.
Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources
The minister's most public claim of his degree came while he was speaking during the 17th-anniversary celebrations of the Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly (COZA) held at the church headquarters in Abuja in 2016.
He said,
"…I went to Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) to try and read medicine and I was there for two weeks and then I got admission to read law. My Father drove all the way to Ife to meet me and he asked, why do you want to go to the University?
"And I said, my ambition is to be a doctor and he said, why are you taking the line of what he called the least resistance? And I said, what do you mean by that and he said, well, if you want to be a doctor why don't you just go and read PHD, get to the very top…
"My dad was talking to a little boy and that got me. So, I packed my bag, left the school of medicine and went to read the law.
"And, I got in there, got a scholarship and became the best student, I had the first class in that institution (UNN)."
According to a fact check by the DUBAWA and Premium Times, it's been discovered that the minister didn't graduate with first class honours, but with a second class upper degree. He joined the institution to study law in 1974 and graduated in 1978.
Kachikwu joins a growing list of the country's public officials who have been caught in scandals involving academic certificates. Kemi Adeosun was recently forced to resign as the Minister of Finance after a Premium Times investigation revealed that she had forged an exemption certificate for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after failing to serve.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu will lead other stakeholders in the Nigerian oil sector to the prestigious Africa Oil Week (AOW) 2018.
The 25th edition of Africa Oil Week conference will hold from 5-9 November in Cape Town, South Africa.
The event is spread across five days and promises to present a content and networking-rich summit programme featuring over 150 speakers from across the international oil and gas sector including industry leaders, 11 African Energy & Petroleum Ministers, Heads of NOCs, banks and PE Funds and CEOs from all major oil companies and independent operators.
Other confirmed speakers at the conference include Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Austin Avuru and a host of others.
Addressing the latest developments and trends in Africa’s oil and gas sector, Africa Oil Week will explore and facilitate new opportunities, partnerships and deal-making through a high-profile summit, a dynamic exhibition and a roster of unrivaled networking events. The summit programme will draw together over a thousand key players and leading decision makers to discuss drilling programmes, farm-ins, data viewings and new financing models which can be adapted to new upstream and energy ventures.
As many regions of Africa continue to dominate interest across the industry, Africa Oil Week will host exclusive insights and debates from stakeholders in the most exciting territories on the continent.
Delegates will hear the latest industry announcements first-hand, and attend presentations and showcases of proprietary information on transformational projects, bidding rounds and farm-ins. Africa Oil Week will also host the most exclusive networking functions which will provide unique opportunities to meet with global decision makers looking to develop and diversify their upstream portfolios.
Africa Oil Week also has significant support from the industry, including lead sponsor Tullow Oil. Paul McDade, the CEO, Tullow Oil, stated,
“Africa Oil Week is the most important event of our year. We’re committed to the future of African oil and gas, and we’re excited to come together in 2018 with a great list of leading companies, exhibitors and speakers focused on helping deliver Africa’s full potential.
The 25th Africa Oil Week Inaugural Ministerial & VIP Programme will be opened by Hon Minister Jeff Radebe, Minister of Energy, whilst the Welcome Reception will be opened by Her Excellency Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The summit will host two Ministerial Panels where Minister Jeff Radebe will be joined by Ministers from Ghana, Niger, Uganda, Gambia, Nigeria, Mali, Republic of Congo and Guinea as they take to the stage to provide their insights on attracting international operators and investment and outline their national oil and gas strategies.
Additionally, there will also be spotlight sessions addressing key developments in Africa focusing on topics such as governance and regulation, production outlooks, the energy transition mix, M&A in African oil and gas, capacity development and gender diversification, gas to power and gas monetization.
Running parallel to the Summit’s plenary sessions is the Africa Oil Week Prospect Forum. Co-produced and held in partnership with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and supported by PVE Consulting, the Prospect Forum provides a unique and dedicated platform for Independent Oil Companies, Geo Service Companies, and National Oil Companies to showcase the most compelling farm-in opportunities, basin insights, and roadshows.
Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has given reason why petroleum marketers allegedly responsible for hoarding fuel during the Yuletide season can’t be punished by government.
The Minister said there was no single evidence that marketers were hoarding petroleum products and as such, they could not be punished.
Kachikwu made the disclosure after a Federal Government delegation led by the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, and fuel marketers as well the heads of the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Immigration Service, and representatives of other paramilitary services met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the meeting, Kachikwu said the parley was not a fault-finding one but meant to find a lasting solution to the problem of fuel scarcity.
According to the Minister, “This is a major concern that Nigerians should not be made to suffer, that Nigerians do not get through the kind of thing they went through this December.
“We want to find a lasting solution and that is what the committee will come out with in the resolutions tomorrow (Wednesday).
“The thing is even the Nigerians, who have suffered, will want to be sure that we find a lasting solution and find evidential basis upon which to punish people.
“This is a democratic government. I don’t have one (evidence) yet; if you have one, I will like to have it.”
In order to halt the untold hardship presently affecting Nigerians due to the ongoing fuel crisis, the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Thursday, directed the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to cut short its recess and immediately convene a meeting with industry stakeholders.
According to the report by Punch, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa, revealed this today in Abuja.
Following the directive, the Committee has summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Maikanti Baru and other relevant stakeholders in the petroleum sector to a crucial meeting on Thursday, January 4, 2018.
He further added that the meeting, which will be held in the Senate Hearing Room 221 and its proceedings aired live on the Nigerian Television Authority, is meant to address the lingering fuel scarcity bedevilling the nation in the last few weeks with a view to putting a complete stop to the unsavoury development.
The Senate, which is presently on Christmas and New Year break is billed to resume Committee work for budget defence on January 9, and commence plenary on January 16.
Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, on Thursday attributed the ongoing fuel scarcity to shortfall in supply of petroleum products across the country.
He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was making efforts to ensure that queues at filling stations disappeared in a couple of days.
Speaking during a news briefing in Abuja, the Minister assured that there was adequate storage facility for imported products.
Kachikwu added that emergency measures were in place to ensure that the products were available during the Yuletide and post-January.
He said, “Presently, queues in Lagos have reduced. We know that Lagos, Abuja, Benue, Port Harcourt were among the worst-hit areas.
“Benue has been dealt with; Port Harcourt is quite moderated. Apart from these areas, other places in the country are probably liquid.
“The major problem is the gap in terms of volume, because NNPC is the only one importing the product to the country.”
The minister further disclosed that four vessels laden with petroleum products would “berth in a few days and a total of 20 cargoes are also expected with petroleum products’’.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources, Senator Omotayo Alasoadura has said that the nation’s oil and gas sector can be free controversies currently rocking the sector if President Muhammad Buhari steps down as the Minister of Petroleum.
The Senator, said this on Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics and also recommends that Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, and the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru should be suspended for a thorough investigation into the allegations.
Alasoadura said if President Buhari steps aside as Minister of Petroleum it will enable him to attend to other issues while Nigeria’s oil and gas which he described as the sector generating the bulk of the nation’s income experience undelayed progress.
“Judging from the daunting problem facing our country today, I believe Mr President should devote more time to other things and let an independent person run the ministry of Petroleum Resources and be able to report to him if it is two times a week or weekly or even bi-weekly. As much as possible, let other people handle this ministry because that is where the bulk of the income of this country comes from and we cannot afford to have any
“As much as possible, let other people handle this ministry because that is where the bulk of the income of this country comes from and we cannot afford to have any pile-up of the things that should be done in the ministry quickly,” he said.
When asked if Kachikwu and Baru should also step aside, Alasoadura said the men need to step aside for thorough investigation to be conducted into the corruption allegations.
“I believe so; especially the man who is doing the day-to-day running of the organisation. In order not to hinder or hamper that investigation, because records will be needed and even from the date of the leakage of that letter, I think action should have been taken to ensure that nothing will be missing when investigations start
“So, I think the two of them should be asked to step aside and when the investigation is over, whoever is culpable will go and whoever is not culpable, will continue with his duties.”
Kackiwku had earlier in a letter to Buhari alleged that the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru awarded contracts amounting to $26 billion without following due process.
On Wednesday, excerpts of a letter written to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, dated August 30, 2017, leaked to the press.
In the letter, Kachikwu accused the GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru of insubordination and humiliation.
Kachikwu, in the letter, said Baru had been sidelining him and the corporation’s board (of which Kachikwu is chairman), making appointments and awarding contracts without due consultations.
The full letter has been released to the press.
Read the letter below:
His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Presidential Villa Abuja
Your Excellency,
RE: MATTERS OF INSUBORDINATION AND LACK OF ADHERENCE TO DUE PROCESS PERPETUATED BY THE GMD NNPC – DR. BARU
FELICITATIONS
Let me start by welcoming you back to the country and by thanking God for your recovery from ill health. I join millions of Nigerians who rejoice and thank God for grating you the grace of healing and strength to continue the good work you have done for Nigeria in your long illustrious career in public service. I would have wanted to come personally after receiving you at the airport to facilitate with you and discuss matters herein contained, however, I have been unable to secure an appointment to see you despite very many attempts.
VARIOUS ACTIVITIES OF THE GMD
Mr. President, yesterday like many other Nigerians. I resumed work confronted by many publications of massive changed within NNPC. Like the previous reorganizations and reposting done since Dr. Baru resumed as GMD. I was never given the opportunity before the announcements to discuss these appointments. This is so despite being Minister of State of Petroleum and Chairman NNPC Board.
The Board of NNPC which you appointed and which has met every month since its inauguration and, which by the statues of NNPC is meant to review these planned appointments and postings, was never briefed. Members of the Board learned of these appointments from the pages of social media and the press release of NNPC.
At the minimum and like all other Parastatals being supervised by me at the Ministry have continued to do, and in compliance with the proper governance standards expected of a serious public institution, these executive actions by NNPC were supposed to benefit from mine and the Board’s input prior to presentation to you. I need to add that backdoor and present same to the acting president were met with a request that this be discussed with me. This was never done.
Indeed, in anticipation of vacancies that would arise from retiring senior executives of NNPC, I wrote the GMD A letter requesting that we both have prior review of the proposed appointments. This was to enable me to present same to the Board or give an anticipatory approval and then review with the Board later (Appendix 1). I wrote to the GMD given previous happenstance of this nature, in addition, thereafter, I called the GMD to a private meeting where I discussed these issues. Needless to say that, not only did he not give my letter the courtesy of a reply, he proceeded to announce the appointments without consultation or Board concurrence.
Mr. President please not that there is a Board Services Committee whose function is to review potential appointments and terminations of Senior Staff prior to implementation. This committee was also not consulted.
The above is just one of the many occurrences of disrespectful experiences I have encountered with the GMD as your Minister of State.
CONTRACTS
The legal and procedural requirements are that all contracts above $20m would need to be reviewed and approved by the Board of NNPC. Mr. President over one year of Dr. Baru’s tenure, no contract has been run through the Board. This is despite my diplomatic encouragement to Dr. Baru to do so to avoid wrongfully painting you as a President who does not allow Due Process to thrive NNPC. Given the history of malpractices and the public perception of NNPC as having a history of non-transparency (Appendix 2: NEITI report), the NNPC Tenders Board (NTB) cannot be the final clearance authority for contracts it enters into.
The NTB which is a collection of top level NNPC executives and COOs, with the GMD as Chairman, cannot continue to be the final approval authority for multi-million dollar contracts and transactions involving NNPC to the exclusion of the Board. Board members have singularly and collectively raised these issues to no avail. (Appendix 3: Letter from Vice President on Expanded Contract)
The following major contracts were never reviewed by or discussed with me Board of NNPC:
The Crude Term contracts- value at over $10bn
The DSDP contracts- value over $5bn
The AKK pipeline contract- value approximately $3bn
Various financing allocation funding contracts with the NOCs – value over $3bn
Various NPDC production service contracts – value at over $3bn–$4bn
There are many more Your Excellency, in most of these activities, the explanation of the GMD is that you are the Minister of Petroleum and your approvals were obtained. However, the correct governance should be that the Minister of the State and the Board review the transaction and give their concurrence prior to presentation to you. As I many cases of things that happen in NNPC these days. I learn of transactions only through publications in the media. The question is why is that the Parastatals which I supervise as Minister of State or Chair of their Board are able to go through these contractual and mandatory governances processed and yet NNPC is exempt from these?
I know that bravado management style runs contrary to the cleansing operations you engaged me to catty out at the inception of your administration. This is also not in consonance with your renowned standards of integrity.
WORKING RELATIONSHIP
Your Excellency, even though the appointments of the other Parastatals Heads in my Ministry were made without my input. I have maintained a cordial and respectful relationship with all. Parastatals under my supervision have continued to excel in their respective areas and adhere to mandatory governance processes. However, my working relationship with GMDs has been fraught with humiliation, sidelining and campaigns of character defamation against me. This is particularly frustrating given many contributions I have made to the growth and stability of the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry through the many policies I have introduced August 2015.
If NNPC is considered and known to be one of the Parastatals under the Ministry, why does the GMD refuse to report into my office or to the Board on the serious issues such as above especially given that I have been by Your Grace, the Minister overseeing these Parastatals for two years?
Your Excellency, even at the time when we were unfortunate to have you away to England for a medical checkup, the situation remained the same.
MEETINGS
The matter of collaborative meeting is another issue altogether. When I call for meetings, the GMD chooses which meetings he wishes to attend and those he chooses to send subordinate. He sends such subordinates without the courtesy of a call to explain his absence. The unattended meetings are in the majority. In all of 2017, I have been able only to get him to have one on one meetings with me about four to five times.
At inception, I instituted a Monthly Parastatals review meeting with Head of Agencies and another with the all the Senior management in all the Parastatals. GMD objected to his Senior Staff coming to the Joint Senior Management meetings. He argued that this was overreaching his territory. He was only comfortable with the Monthly of all Heads of Agencies meetings which he has only attended a few times. I have had to carry on with the rest of the Ministry.
Despite being Chairman of NNPC Board. I have tried to manage the bad perception created by GMDs blatant insubordination and disrespectful attitude. Particularly I have worked hard to avoid being seen as pretty and meddlesome.
FEAR CULTURE
The effect of the attitude of the GMD and the sidelining of the Board is that there is a fear culture in NNPC. The open administration I introduced, with your support in our first year of pushing reforms, has been completely eroded. The essence of this innovation was to drive great working interface and interaction amongst all Parastatals in the Petroleum sector. Other Parastatals have benefitted from this.
NNPC staff are afraid of contacting me to avoid being punished, sidelined in appointments and targeted. Indeed, the key factor for growth and advancement in NNPC of today is to avoid the Minister of State’s Office.
VARIOUS ACCUSATIONS
In order to convince to your Excellency of the need to sideline me, I am sure I have been labeled as being.
I.Anti-North
II.Corrupt
III. In Collusion With Militants
Some faceless blogs have even had the audacity to circulate such rumors. Nothing Your Excellency can be further from the truth. I mention this because this will be the likely response you will receive to this attempt I am making to alert you on the state of affairs under the GMD’s leadership.
These accusations are baseless.
I. ANTI-NORTH
First, all my appointments were generated with key inputs from all the COOs of NNPC and were balanced and based strictly on skills, experience, drive, and ethnic balancing for senior management positions. Mid-level positions were sole suggestions of the COOs. Let me say for the records that I am a completely detribalized Nigerian and I have lived my formative years in the East, West, North, and South-South part of the Country. My Father was a Federal High Court Judge in most parts of the North. My siblings and I benefited from growing up in Kano. In addition, I have resided and worked in Rivers, Delta, Lagos, Oyo, Enugu, Anambra, etc. I have no reason to be anti-North because in my working career I have found that good and skillful people abound everywhere in our Nation.
II.CORRUPTION
I have done nothing in my time at NNPC or the Ministry that is corrupt or laced with any such intent. In my time as GMD, all policies and contracts were generated by the Heads of Division, approved by COOs, passed through NTB and (in the absence of a Board at the time) I received your approvals, I have had no relationship with any one of or any transaction in my period that was product of a personal deal or an arrangement, if anyone benefited from NNPC contracts, they did so on their merit and I rarely participated in those contractual processes except to review them.
Anyone peddling any contrary information is resorting to cheap blackmail.
III.MILITANTS AND SECURITY:
I took on the issue of security headlong because it was the primary causative factor for production that declined from 2.2 mpbd to 1mpbd at our lowest point (November 2016). At great risk to my life. I visited militant camps, coordinated with our security apparatus, organized the four of the HEVP to several frontline states and worked with PANDEF and other groups to bring calm and increase production and some measures of stability to what it is today.
I have never betrayed the trust you placed on me. I did not deploy any public financial resources to achieve the results in the Niger Delta region. Most times I have utilized my personal resources and goodwill accumulated over the many years prior to my appointment to achieve these far reaching results and of course all these were with collaborations with Agencies of the government (Office of the VP, DSS, NSA, etc.)
I dare mention that the blueprint of these engagements were discussed with and approved by you.
Given the sensitivity of my position, I remain one of the most tracked officers of your government, so if there is any truth to these rumors, you would have known.
Mr. President you took me from the private sector where I left an enviable track record of performance and integrity spanning over 25 years rising to the highest positions in multinational oil sector organization. I came to this job with the zeal to change the sector. Measurable progress has been made and more would have been achieved but for the challenges I have listed above.
THE FUTURE OF THE OIL INDUSTRY
Mr. President I have been on a race to stabilize and move the industry to the next phase. Timing is critical. The sector is also in a critical state where only innovative ideas can stop the alarming impact of the fall of oil prices on the National Income. The innovations that we have developed and stated implementing in the Downstream, Upstream, Policy generation and Niger Delta Security have enabled the sector to stabilize slightly. However, truth is that given the global challenge in this sector, we must aggressively pursue out of the box ideas on rejuvenating this sector, getting the best yield and increasing our earnings from oil and gas. What this means is that Parastatals in the Ministry and all CEOs of these Parastatals must be aligned with the policy drive of the supervising Ministry to allow the sector register of the growth that has eluded it for many years. To do otherwise or to exempt any of the Parastatals would emplace a stunted growth industry.
PRAYERS
My prayers most humbly and respectfully are:
That we save NNPC and the oil industry from collapse arising from the above non-transparent practices and empower the Board you inaugurated to do the needful.
That you save the office of the Minister of State from further humiliation and disrespect by compelling all Parastatals to submit to oversight regulatory mandate and proper supervision which I am supposed to manage on your behalf.
You kindly instruct the GMD to effectively leave NNPC to run as a proper institution and report out along due process lines to the Board and that your Excellency instructs that all reviews be done with the Minister of State prior to your decision.
That to set the right examples, you approve that recently announced reorganization changes be suspended until the GMD, myself, and the Board have made relevant input to same. This will send a clear signal of process and transparency.
That your Excellency encouraged joint presentation meetings between heads of Parastatals and the Minister of State to you so as to encourage a culture of working together and implant discipline in the hierarchy.
These in my view, Mr. President, will provide you balanced analysis on issues and avoid exposing the exalted office of Mr. President to ridicule. It will also reduce nonproductive, unsubstantiated rumor peddling.
Mr. President, I thank you for the opportunities given me to serve and I wish you continued full recovery. I remain loyal and very proud of you Sir.
Mr. President kindly accept the assurances of my highest esteem and loyalty.
Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu
Honorable Minister of State Petroleum Resources.
Co-convener of the BringBackOurGirls, BBOG, advocacy group, Aisha Yesufu has berated President Muhammadu Buhari over his ‘treatment’ of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu.
She insisted that Buhari was never interested in seeing Kachikwu.
Aisha made the claim while reacting to Kachikwu’s letter to the president, wherein he accused the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Maikanti Baru of insubordination.
Kachikwu also accused the NNPC GMD of awarding contracts worth over $26 billion without getting the approval of the Corporation’s board.
The Minister further claimed that he was restricted from gaining access to the president.
Reacting, Aisha via her twitter handle, wrote: “Stop saying Kachikwu has no access to the president. The president doesn’t want to see Kachikwu period!
“Kachikwu is the minister of state of the ministry, that gives Nigeria its highest income, that Buhari is the minister.
“Buhari should be the one looking for Kachikwu. Kachikwu should be so overworked by Buhari himself and in close contact 24/7.”
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