Petroleum Ministry shakeup: More senior oil workers to be sacked this week The workers were indicted for various crimes. Following last Friday’s dismissal of ten senior officials of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, more of those already penciled down for similar fate would receive their sack letters from this week in an ongoing shake-up in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the sack letters were already being prepared for at least 19 senior officials of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority, PPPRA; 12 officials of the Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Efurun, Delta State; five staff of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF, and six Assistant Directors of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. The General Manager (Corporate Services) of PEF, Goddy Nnadi, however, said he was not aware of impending sack of any official, as no such issue came for discussion in any of its management meetings. At the end of the petroleum ministry audit exercise, it was reported that three top officials each from the PPPRA, PTDF, PTI, and PEF were found culpable of various offences, including the falsification of their service records, while six Assistant Directors in the DPR were found to have been due for retirement from service or redeployment. Those affected in the PPPRA include two Assistant General Managers, alleged to have presented records and age declaration documents considered forged or falsified; and a General Manager, recommended by the audit team for immediate removal from office for overstaying his position. The provisions of the Federal Civil Service rule state that “all categories of workers in the public service shall compulsorily retire at age 60, or after serving for 35 years, whichever is earlier,” with judicial officers and university lecturers the only exemptions, as they are entitled to retire at 70 and 65 years respectively. In addition, the civil service rule also states that “a director shall compulsorily retire after holding the office for eight years.” Though available records showed that the affected PPPRA General Manager was yet to attain the mandatory retirement age of 60, nor 35 years in service, the verification team reportedly noted in its report that he should have left service last year, having spent more than nine years on the position as director since 2003. Several top management staff in five parastatals under the petroleum ministry, were, at the end of a ministerial personnel audit conducted between April and June, identified as due for either outright dismissal, or to be compelled to proceed on compulsory retirement from service. It was learnt that the audit, which involved the physical verification of originals of certificates and other documents by the workers, uncovered several cases of records falsification, including forgery and discrepancies in declared age. The audit exercise was conducted as part of the process to reorganize the oil and gas industry preparatory to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly. Last Friday, based on the recommendations of the audit team, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, authorized the Executive Secretary of the PTDF, Oluwole Oluleye, to sack ten members of the top management staff indicted in the report for various offences. The affected officials included three general managers, a manager, deputy manager, and six other senior officials. They included Jolomi Arenyeka, who was the General Manager (Nigerian Content Department); Habiba Wakil, General Manager (Legal & Secretariat Services); Joseph Dogo, General Manager (Special Duties); Nasir Ahmed (Manager (Upstream); and Usman Pindar (Deputy Manager , Mid and Downstream). Others were Gregory Aziobaologha, who was Officer 11 (Technical Services); Abdulmanaf Ibrahim, Supervisor (Education); Salisu Babaji, Assistant Supervisor (Human Resources); Mangse Yikalhan Assistant Supervisor (Finance & Administration), and Faith Idaikwo, Senior Assistant Supervisor (Administration). Since the news of the shake-up in PTDF, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that there has been apprehension among the staff of the different departments, agencies, and parastatals in the petroleum industry. -PREMIUM TIMES
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 11:42:39 +0000
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