NNPCL

Author: Gist Correspondent

The Arewa Youth Alliance for Progress and Development (AYAPAD) has issued a seven-working-day ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), demanding full disclosure of its recent recruitment exercise and an update on oil exploration activities in the northern frontier basins.

In a letter addressed to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, the group alleged that the recruitment process may have breached the Federal Character principle, claiming reports suggested that nearly all successful applicants were from Southern Nigeria.

The letter, signed by AYAPAD Secretary James Ishaku, called on the company to publish the names of the newly recruited employees, their states and local government areas of origin, as well as the positions they were employed to fill.

According to the group, if the reports are confirmed, the recruitment exercise would amount to a violation of the Federal Character provisions of the 1999 Constitution, stressing that no region should be excluded from opportunities in a national institution.

AYAPAD also demanded certified true copies of vacancy advertisements for the recruitment exercise to determine whether the positions were publicly advertised and accessible to qualified applicants across the country.

The organisation said it wanted to establish whether the exercise was conducted transparently or was designed to favour a particular region, warning that failure to provide the requested information would raise further questions about the credibility of the process.

Beyond the recruitment exercise, the group requested a comprehensive briefing on oil exploration activities in the Gongola Basin, Bida Basin, Benue Trough and Lake Chad Basin, expressing concern over what it described as a lack of transparency in the development of the frontier basins.

It also sought clarification over allegations that funds allocated for frontier basin exploration under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had been transferred into the Treasury Single Account through a presidential directive, urging the NNPCL to address the claims and reverse the action if confirmed.

AYAPAD said it welcomed Ojulari's appointment as NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer and expressed hope that his administration would uphold fairness, equity and national inclusion in the management of the state-owned oil company.

The group warned that it would invoke the Freedom of Information Act, organise peaceful protests and pursue legal action against the NNPCL if it failed to provide a satisfactory response within the seven-working-day deadline.