THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION VS. THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES

There is a popular African adage, “When two elephants fight, the grass suffers.” And there can be no greater current representation of this than the 2017 conflict between the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources; Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC); Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru.

Originally published as part of the Centurion Knowledge Series on November 20, 2017

Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources was created to develop and implement sound policies that will serve as a back bone for the rapid development of the then burgeoning oil and gas sector. The Ministry is responsible for the articulation, implementation and regulation of policies in the oil and gas sector. It also exercises a supervisory role over the operators and stakeholders, to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in oil and gas. The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari is the Minister of Petroleum Resources, supported by Dr. Kachikwu as Minister of State, who also doubles as Chairman of the Board of NNPC.

The NNPC is the oil corporation through which the federal government of Nigeria regulates and participates in the country’s petroleum industry, and is headed by a Group…