Ararume: DSS Asked To Release Security Report On Why Buhari Dropped Senator As NNPCL Board Chairman 

The Department of State Services (DSS) has been urged to release its security report on Senator Ifeanyi Ararume showing possible reasons President Muhammadu Buhari had a rethink about appointing him as non-executive chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). 

A coalition of about 25 civil society groups made the request following a court judgment Ararume secured against President Buhari ordering his reinstatement. 

The president had first appointed Ararume to the position in September 2021 but replaced him with Senator Margaret Chuba Okadigbo hours before the inauguration of the board and management of the NNPCL. 

No explanation was given for the president’s decision at the time. 

But the CSOs under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CCSGGG) claim that Buhari’s replacement of Ararume may have stemmed from a security report on the Senator by the DSS. 

Speaking in a statement by its Convener, Dominic Ogakwu, the group threatened to stage a protest in Abuja against the court judgment reinstating Ararume. 

Ogakwu said, “we are confident that the DSS report will show the character of Sen. Ararume e as unfit for such an office, while we find it curious that the constitutional prerogative of the president to hire and fire especially in a sensitive entity like the NNPC Limited can brazenly be usurped by the courts.”

According to him, “we have undertaken to express our dismay by protesting in Abuja next week as the judiciary cannot be seen to overreach itself, which unfortunately, has become the common denominator over the past few weeks.

“The political implication of what has happened in this matter is not lost on those of us that are watching events in the oil and gas sector keenly. After a hitch-free transition from the wholly owned government entity to a public liability company and focused administration since the unbundling, this judgment seeks to muddy the waters and allow elements with less than noble intentions to undermine the operations of the NNPC Limited.

“We had imagined that the courts will take into account not just the national interest but the international dimension and not project Nigeria as an unstable oil and gas investment destination.”

Ogakwu further commended moves by the Federal Government to appeal the court judgment.

“It is gratifying that President Buhari has directed that the judgment be appealed and that the CAMA does not supersedes the constitutional provisions of the president to hire and fire any appointee of government.

“We are also pleased to note a groundswell of opposition to the judgment and we hope that when the federal government appeals the controversial judgment, the appellate court will see reason not to allow the miscarriage of just to stand,” the CCSGGG stated.