By Teddy Nwanunobi
A former spokesperson of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Garba Deen Muhammad, has returned to the role to replace Dr. Kennie Obateru as the Group General Manager (GGM), Group Public Affairs Division (GPAD), as the Corporation, again, reshuffled its staff, promoting some and redeploying others across departments on Monday.
This development was contained in a statement signed by Obateru.
Valuechain reports that Muhammad, a former editor of the Daily Trust, Mallam Garba Deen Muhammad, first took up the duty of the GGM in March 2016, following the approval of his appointment by the then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to replace Mr. Ohi Alegbe, who was redeployed to be the GGM, Corporate Social Responsibility.
Following his appointment, Muhammad is likely to exit the office of the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, where he is currently the Special Adviser on Media.
Before his appointment, Muhammad was the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Editor-at-large at The Sun newspapers.
He had succeeded, as the NGE President, Mr. Femi Adesina, who President Muhammadu Buhari had picked as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
According to the statement titled, ‘NNPC promotes, redeploys senior management’, the Corporation announced the promotion and redeployment of some staff to fill key vacant positions in a bid to strengthen and reposition it towards attaining global excellence and profitability.
“Mr. Billy Okoye has been appointed the new Group Executive Director, Ventures & Business Development, while Mrs. Aisha Ahmadu-Katagum has been promoted to the position of Group Executive Director, Corporate Services.
“Until their new appointments, Mr. Okoye and Mrs. Ahmadu-Katagum were Group General Managers, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) and Supply Chain Management Division in the Corporation, respectively.
“Engr. Adeyemi Adetunji, formerly Chief Operating Officer, Business & Ventures Development, becomes the Group Executive Director, Downstream, while Mr. Mohammed Abdulkabir Ahmed, formerly Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services, becomes the Group Executive Director, Gas & Power.
“Other Chief Operating Officer positions in the Corporation have now been re-designated as Group Executive Directors (GEDs), in alignment with the rules of Company & Allied Matters Act (CAMA), preparatory to the new status of the Corporation as a Limited Liability Company, post-Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
“The repositioning also saw the disengagement of Engr. Yusuf Usman, formerly Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power.
“The new appointments include that of Mr. Garba Deen Muhammad, who will take over from Dr. Kennie Obateru as the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation.
“Speaking on the Development, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, said the new appointments would enable the Corporation (to) live up to the expectations of Nigerians and achieve its vision of becoming a world-class energy company of choice,” the statement read.
The NNPC, in March 2020, reportedly retired about 40 group general managers and general managers.
Last July, the Corporation conducted a major shakeup, which led to the exit of two senior officials, and the redeployment of others.
There was similar development in September 2019, where there was redeployment of managers at the upstream subsidiary of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC).