CSO asks FG to obey judgement nullifying Ararume’s removal as NNPC board chair

Justice Now Coalition, a civil society organisation (CSO), says the federal government should obey a judgement nullifying the removal of Ifeanyi Ararume as a non-executive chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

On Tuesday, Inyang Ekwo, a judge of the federal high court in Abuja, awarded N5 billion in damages in favour of the former senator representing Imo north.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Ararume as board chairman of the corporation in September 2021, but he was later sacked and replaced by Margaret Chuba Okadigbo in January 2022.

Margaret is the widow of the late Chuba Okadigbo, a former president of the senate. The president said steps have already been taken to appeal the court verdict.

In a statement on Sunday, Tony Erha, the CSO’s convener, said the matter could be resolved in a way that there would be no losers.

“The federal government should take the window of opportunity provided by the federal high court judgment to correct its mischief and put an end to the issue once and for all,” Erha said.

“Afterall, senator Godwin Ifeanyi Araraume was a director on the board of NNPCL before he was simultaneously appointed as the non-executive chairman, thus enjoying the privilege of having his name in the company’s records with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

“Araraume remains part of the NNPCL family in the face of the law. All issues settled in his favour in the judgment can be quietly revisited and resolved in ways that there will be no losers at the end of the day.

“This is the best way to go about the quick restoration of the Board of the NNPCL to normalcy. The government cannot pretend not to know that all is not well with the NNPCL, especially now with the specific order nullifying all the decisions and resolutions taken by the board in the absence of senator Araraume from January 17, 2022, when he was removed as non-executive chairman of the board.

“We understand that Araraume is a committed member of the ruling All Progressives Congress. We also understand that he was an appointee of President Muhammadu Buhari, as a federal commissioner at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), where he represented the southeast zone from 2016-2018, a position he held after he passed rigorous security checks by the Police and the Department of State Services.

“That being the case, we believe that this issue can be resolved in-house in the interest of his party, government, and the nation, so that the NNPCL can be surefooted forthwith in its operations and dealings with the IOCs, whose confidence the new national energy company must enjoy, more than ever before, to thrive.”