No fewer than 140 staffers of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) indicted by a forensic staff audit ordered by the management of the regulatory agency on employees’ educational certificates are fingered in a grand conspiracy to instigate the sack of the Commission Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe.
Investigations revealed that some of the affected staffers, including some top officials of the NUPRC Chapter of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have been jittery since the report of the audit findings was presented for implementation to the management.
Worried that Komolafe was committed to ridding the agency of square pegs in round holes and dead woods, it was learned that the affected staffers have resorted to desperate moves to frustrate and halt further action on the audit report.
This newspaper learned part of the desperate moves included the recent series of allegations of fraud and abuse of office leveled against Komolafe orchestrated to blackmail and discredit Komolafe and his management before the Tinubu government.
Allegations
Recently, the NUPRC Chapter of the PENGASSAN executive made some scathing allegations which the management considered an attempt by some officials indicted by the audit report using their privileged positions to impugn the character and integrity of the CCE for purely sinister motives.
The executive accused the CCE of approving the recruitment of over 140 individuals without proper procedure in violation of the Federal Public Service Rules and the provisions of the Federal Character Commission policies on equal opportunities in employment.
Also, they accused the Komolafe-led NUPRC management of negligent conduct in terms of poor employee/staff welfare throughout the two years of his stewardship, in addition to alleged misappropriation of N10bn virement as well as an illegal donation of N4bn to political parties in the run-up to the February general elections.
The other allegations included using inflated contracts for legal firms to siphon over N1bn corporate and collective funds from the Commission in 2023; wasting about N900mn on dubious sensitization workshops; another N500mn on office renovations and furniture procurement as well as N1.5bn on luxury transportation, including private jet travel and first-class flights in violation of presidential directives.
NUPRC reacts
Although the NUPRC management dismissed the allegations as baseless and mischievous, it pointed out that on staff welfare, all staff entitlements were paid in line with their terms and conditions of service in accordance with the harmonization with sister agencies and collective bargaining agreements.
On alleged misappropriation and donation to political parties, the management described the allegation as “malicious, completely false, libelous and entirely unsubstantiated”.
“There is no way N14bn can leave the coffers of the Commission without a trace, especially given how funds are allocated to the Commission,” the management explained.
On alleged inflated contracts and siphoning of N1bn, the management clarified that the legal fees paid by the Commission complied with the limit set by the Attorney General of the Federation constitutionally empowered to issue such fiat in accordance with the complexity and high financial exposure of the cases involved.
On sensitization workshops, the NUPRC management said there was the need for adequate sensitization of key provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 to ensure effective implementation, adding that the workshops were approved by the appropriate authority.
Besides, the management explained that following the Commission inherited offices used by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the appointment of executive commissioners and recruitment of 140 extra staff, there was a need to reorganize and renovate the Commission’s offices across the country to accommodate its operations.
The NUPRC management dismissed the allegation of luxury transportation as baseless and false, as there was no time that the Commission chartered a private jet for the CCE.
Union’s protest
Determined to continue with their campaign of calumny, the desperate union officials last Monday mobilized other members of PENGASSAN to barricade the entrance of the head office of the Commission ostensibly to protest what they termed ‘escalating critical concerns affecting staff welfare in the Commission.’
The protest was coming barely 24 hours after a comprehensive response by the management to a letter dated July 31, signed by the local PENGASSAN chairman, O. E. Anya, and secretary, M. Malah.
In the letter, the union raised issues concerning staff welfare, particularly alleged non-remittance of pension, non-conducive work environment, insufficient working tools, staff medicals, outstanding payments of 2023 upfront allowances, unpaid staff claims, and on-call-allowance, as well as non-payment of outsource personnel.
NUPRC clarification
In its response, the management explained that obligations relating to claims made by the union were fulfilled, while efforts were already being made to resolve all pending requests adding that all issues have been addressed.
“Contrary to the claims that pension deductions from staff emoluments have not been remitted to the various Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in line with the Pension Reform Act 2014, the Commission had fully settled all pension deductions,” the management response stated.
Apart from the acquisition of additional working space in Abuja, as well as necessary facilities in the Port Harcourt and Lagos offices, to create a conducive work environment, the management computers and other working tools were procured from accredited agents of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for staff under the Service Level Agreement.
On medicals, the management said all the processes were taken in compliance with the official gazette of the National Health Insurance Authority Act (NHIA) 2022 as well as the financial implications, to afford all staff and their wards access to accredited hospitals and bills settled subsequently.
“Full and comprehensive medical care, inclusive of approved overseas treatment, where required, is provided for all staff. All medical expenses are scheduled for payment and are undergoing processing,” the management stated.
On outstanding upfront allowances, the management explained that since the available funds realized from unspent funds in December 2022 were insufficient to take care of all outstanding liabilities, a decision was taken to pay staff entitlement in batches net of deductions.
By June 2023, the Commission said more than N1.5bn of the upfront cooperative deduction was paid, with the outstanding being processed for settlement in August 2023, while staff claims were being processed in line with the cash flows for immediate payment on the relevant payment platform.
The CCE, who issued the clarification, said the on-call allowances were paid to the qualified staff, in line with the subsisting staff policy.
He expressed surprise that the Union claimed non-payment of on-call allowances, insisting that all such allowances were fully paid as of July 2023, in line with staff policy.
The CCE explained that the non-payment of outsourced personnel management was incumbent on the requirement on those concerned to provide documentation in compliance with the Procurement Act.
On the protest, the management reminded the union about the existing industrial relations protocol requiring seven days grievance notice prior to any planned or immediate disruptive action as well as the ongoing intervention of the national body of the union on the issues.
While expressing surprise at the protest by the local chapter of the union less than 24 hours after the submission of its letter of concern, the management of the protests appeared to have been a premeditated action using staff welfare as a facade.
They drew attention to attempts to undermine and frustrate the Commission’s strategic moves to sanitize the oil and gas industry in the country, especially the passage of some regulations to curb crude oil theft and losses through operational and administrative leakages.
“The management has come under intense pressure and harassment from some dissatisfied stakeholders using every available weapon at their disposal,” it said.
Inciting staff to protest
Further investigations on Wednesday revealed that the non-payment of staff allowance may have been orchestrated to incite the workers’ protest against the management.
An internal official memo cited by this newspaper showed that the Commission’s Finance & Accounts Commissioner may have connived with some of the union officials to instigate the protest on Monday.
Despite the approval by the CCE for the disbursement of over N3bn for the settlement of outstanding obligations, including the settlement of promotion arrears, payment to vendors and other services, staff claims, and other service providers’ bills, the Finance & Accounts Commissioner was said to have refused to take appropriate action on them.
The approvals by Komolafe included N1.8bn as promotion arrears; N528mn unpaid obligations; N917mn for vendors and other services providers bill, and N404mn processed staff claims.
An official who is familiar with the issue said the Commissioner’s indiscretion was calculated to create bad blood against Komolafe and irk the workers into a protest against management.
The protest
The protest, which continued on Tuesday, grounded official business at the headquarters of the NUPRC in Abuja following the picketing and barricade mounted by the workers who demanded Komolafe’s immediate sack over alleged fraud and abuse of office.
The protesting staff members who were dressed in black and red attires placed a coffin at the main entrance to the NUPRC complex in Abuja with the inscription ‘RIP Fraud’.
Following the protest, the NUPRC Chief fired a query vide memo No. NUPRC/OOCCE/20/08/2023 dated August 2, 2023 to the Executive Commissioner Finance and Account, to demand an explanation why he refused to act on his approval for the payments.
In his response, the Commissioner was said to have blamed his inaction on downtime he claimed affected the Remita payment platform.
However, it was gathered that when Remita was contacted, they dismissed the claim as false, as they never experienced any downtime during the period the Commissioner claimed.
