Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru yesterday emerged as the new Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).The appointment brings to an end months of speculation and suspense over who takes chargeat the oil company since the confirmation of Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as minister last November.Kachikwu will now head the board of the NNPC after the approval for its composition by President Muhammadu Buhari, according to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.The statement said the president’s approval was done in line with Section 1(2) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Act of 1997 as amended.The new board has Minister of State for Petroleum, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, as chairman. Other members of the board include the new NNPC GMD Maikanti Kacalla Baru; the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance; Chief of Staff to the president Mallam Abba Kyari; Dr Thomas M.A John; Dr Pius O. Akinyelure; Dr Tajuddeen Umar; Mallam Mohammed Lawal, and Mallam Yusuf Lawal.Adesina said Buhari urged the new board to ensure the successful delivery of the mandate of the NNPC, “and serve the nation by upholding the public trust placed on them in managing this critical national asset.”End of speculationKachikwu had in November last year after his appointment as minister said he would remain the head of the NNPC for a while.There had been concerns in the industry over the double roles of Kachikwu as a supervisor/regulator and a player in the oil sector.Three prominent names including Dr. Baru had been mentioned several times since October 2015 as possible replacement for Kachikwu.But a March restructuring at NNPC consumed Baru who was then the corporation’s Group Executive Director (Exploration and Production).He was redeployed to the petroleum ministry to serve as Technical Adviser Upstream to the Minister of State.Baru, who industry players describe as a first class industry expert, returns to the NNPC after working in various capacities in both the upstream and downstream arms of NNPC.
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