President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate
dissolution of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
The decision was conveyed in a letter, dated June 26, 2015,
signed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi.
The letter quoted President Buhari as thanking members of
the dissolved board for their services to the nation.
The NNPC is the state-run oil company which oversees
Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. It’s board is statutorily headed by the
minister of petroleum resources.
The corporation regulates the oil and gas sector, and also
operates as a joint venture partner representing the government in deals with
oil multinationals.
The NNPC has in recent years been accused of large scale
corruption, the latest being the alleged disappearance of $20 billion oil
money.
An independent audit ordered by the Nigerian government in
2014 concluded that the corporation has an outstanding $1.48 billion to pay to
the government.
The NNPC has yet to make the payment several months after
the release of the audit report.
