Ararume Kicks against Fresh Appointment of NNPCL Board Chairman

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Senator Ifeanyi Ararume has kicked against the appointment of a new Non-Executive Chairman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Ararume, who is the court-recognised chairman of the board, stated that the move by President Bola Tinubu is in breach of an order of court.
In a public notice issued on November 30, by his lawyer, Dr. Ogwu Onoja (SAN), the former senator stressed that he remains the chairman of the board until ordered otherwise by the court.

“Our attention has been drawn to the news of the appointment of new members of NNPC Limited Board, including a new Non-Executive Chairman by the President on the 27th November 2023, in utter violation of the judgment and order of the Federal High Court, Abuja dated 18th April 2023 in Suit No:

FHC/ABJ/CS/1621/2022 – Between Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume V. the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, NNPCL and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) wherein the court restrained the president from removing the name of Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Ararume from the Corporate Affairs Commission as a Non-Executive Director of NNPCL and that he be allowed to continue to function as the Chairman of the Board of NNPCL. This judgment remains valid and subsisting until this moment without being set aside”, the notice read in part.

Ararume expressed the shock that the president could brazenly disobey the court judgment by purporting to appoint a New Board and Management Team for NNPCL instead of giving implementation to the said judgment of the Federal High Court.
“It is shocking that rather than obey the valid and extant judgment of the court, the president has taken the laws into his hands to overrule the courts and usurp the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal before whom, the President has filed an appeal which is pending, by taking steps to undermine the judgment by such illegal appointments.

“This singular act of Mr. President unfortunately denotes a wanton disregard for the rule of law and a direct affront on the judiciary,” the notice added.
It argued that with the said judgment still valid and subsisting, it is clear as crystal even to the common man that the appointment of the new Board and Management of the NNPCL by the President on November 27, 2023, is illegal, wrongful, null and void and of no legal consequence”.
The notice warned the general public to “beware of those illegal appointments in their own interest” and avoid having any dealings whatsoever with the new Board and Management of the NNPCL “as anyone who goes ahead to do any business or transactions with them will be doing so at his or her own peril.
“We hereby call on Mr. President, who is a huge beneficiary of judicial pronouncements and the rule of law, to reverse his decision and allow the flow of the rule of law.

“Mr. President should have known that respect for the rule of law is equally a strong factor in the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which he has been traveling all over the world to promote.”
Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja, had on April 18, 2023, set aside the removal of Senator Ararume as the Non-Executive Chairman of the newly Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Board.

Justice Ekwo in the judgment held that Ararume’s removal by the then President Muhammadu Buhari contravened provisions of the NNPCL laws as well as the Company’s and Allied Matters Act.
In addition, Ekwo had held that Ararume’s removal after his appointment by Buhari was illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void and subsequently nullified the president’s action.
The court also declared as nullity all decisions and actions taken so far by the board in the absence of Ararume.

While Ekwo had made an order reinstating Ararume as Non-Executive Chairman of the NNPCL Board with immediate effect, he had made another order directing the defendants which included Buhari, NNPCL, and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), to pay Ararume the sum of N5 billion being damages he suffered following his unlawful removal as NNPC Board Chairman.