Oil Prices: Shock As NNPC Sacks 40 GMs, More To Go

By Fola James

The free fall in price of crude oil has recorded its first casualties following the sack of some top management staff of the nation’s state owned oil company, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.

NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari had, on Wednesday, warned that the falling oil prices in the international oil market portended grave consequences for the nation’s economy.

Over 50 crude oil laden vessels and 12 Liquefied Natural Gas cargoes belonging to the country have been stranded in the high seas for lack of buyers, Kyari said at a forum organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to sensitize stakeholders on the effects of dwindling oil revenue.

Two days after, the state oil firm has sacked over 40 Group General Managers, GGM and General Managers, GM.

Many of those asked to go were believed to still have more than a year in the service, but the management has directed that they hand over to the most senior persons in their various departments, the magazine has learnt.

Sources told the magazine that the employees were asked to retire to pave way for those that were recently employed by the oil corporation.

“But that cannot be the reason to sack 40 GGMs and GMs, because the new employees are mostly junior staff, who cannot presently occupy the positions of these top officers,” Kemi Adebamiwo, a labour expert told the magazine

It was also learnt that the sacked staff has protested their untimely termination of their employment, but they were told by the management that there was no going back on the matter.

Meanwhile, top sources in NNPC said the measure was necessary in other to absorb the shock brought by drop in oil prices, as the “current situation requires serious re-organisation and cost effective decisions in the face of glaring volatility in crude oil prices,” a source said.

More staff will still be asked to go, the source stated, adding that “some middle level officers will be forced to retire in the next few weeks, because the management cannot maintain the bogus wage bill under the current circumstances.”