Following a judgment by the Federal High Court, Abuja, reinstating Senator Ifeanyi Ararume as non-executive chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited (NNPCL), non-executive chairman, a coalition of over 25 civil society groups has called on the Department of State Security (DSS) to release security report on him.
This is as the group also plans to stage a major protest against the judgment in Abuja next week.
The coalition under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CCSGGG), in a press statement in Abuja, said the security report by the secret police would give clear indication why Senator Ararume was dropped from the board of the NNPCL, while faulting the judgment by Justice Ikwo Inyang, describing it as a usurpation of the powers of the president.
The statement signed by the coalition’s convener, Comrade Dominic Ogakwu, read in part: “We are confident that the DSS report will show the character of Sen. Ararume 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.”
Ogakwu said, “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.”
