EXCLUSIVE: Minister, Perm Sec disobey Tinubu’s directives

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has yet to send the name of Nicholas Agbo-Ella as OPEC Governor for Nigeria in an apparent disobedience to President Bola Tinubu’s order.

In a directive issued on 6 May, Mr Tinubu asked Mr Lokpobiri, whom he appointed in August 2023, to submit the name of Mr Agbo-Ella, the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as the representative of Nigeria in OPEC.

Mr Agbo-Ella replaced Gabriel Aduda as the Permanent Secretary for the Petroleum Ministry after the latter was redeployed to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in February.

Top officials in the ministry have told this newspaper that Mr Aduda, a brother to former FCT Senator Philip Aduda, has continued to attend functions as OPEC governor, a move sources said was backed by Mr Lokpobiri.

President Tinubu emphasised in his memo to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and copied to Mr Lokpobiri that Mr Lokpobiri should “take immediate steps to notify OPEC of the change of Permanent Secretary and replace Ambassador Gabriel T. Aduda’s name with Ambassador Nicholas Agbo-Ella as the Governor nominated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, being the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum.”

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively obtained the memo in which the president said the minister should ensure the “replacement is confirmed by the conference scheduled for 1 June 2024.”

However, in apparent disregard of the presidential directive, Mr Lokpobiri did not submit Mr Agbo-Ella’s name to the OPEC Board of Governors, an insider at the petroleum ministry said.

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately confirm the reason for Mr Lokpobiri’s action. It is also unclear why Mr Aduda, whose function is now with the Ministry of Women Affairs, continued to serve as OPEC governor.

PREMIUM TIMES’ calls and text messages to the minister seeking comments about the failure to submit Mr Agbo-Ella’s name to the OPEC were neither acknowledged nor returned.

This newspaper also contacted the SGF’s office to know what efforts he has made to ensure that the president’s directive is complied with. Segun Imohiosen, the spokesperson of the SGF’s Office, first asked for some time to clarify the minister’s stance. He subsequently refused to return calls and text messages sent to him.

Checks by this medium show that Mr Aduda is still listed as the Governor of Nigeria on the OPEC website. He also still addresses himself as the OPEC governor of Nigeria on his X account.

Screenshots of Aduda’s X profile

Nigeria joined OPEC in 1971 to enhance the country’s crude oil production.

The Petroleum Act only recognises a high-ranking official from the petroleum ministry to represent Nigeria’s interest at OPEC. “Hence, the approval to allow the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry to serve as the representative of Nigeria at the OPEC meeting,” the president’s letter to the SGF read.

In the letter, Mr Tinubu granted approval for Mr Agbo-Ella to attend the 165th Meeting of the OPEC Board of Governors (BOG) in May.

But, it was Mr Aduda who attended the BOG meeting.

“Critically examining the Organisation’s strategic, financial and administrative affairs. At the ongoing 165th Meeting of OPEC’s Board of Governors,” Mr Aduda wrote on X, attaching his pictures from the event.

Mr Aduda ignored PREMIUM TIMES’ repeated requests for comments on why he is still serving as OPEC governor despite being redeployed to a new ministry.

Mr Aduda attending the BOG meeting in May

Other OPEC meetings that were supposed to be attended by Mr Lokpobiri and Mr Agbo-Ella during the trip to the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria, were the 188th Meeting of the Conference, the 54th Meeting of the JMMC and the 37th Meeting of the ONOM.

“I have never seen this level of disrespect for the office of Nigeria’s President by a minister who serves at the pleasure of Mr President,” a presidential aide who said he was not authorised to speak on the matter told this newspaper. “How can a junior minister refuse and neglect directives from his principal who doubles as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources.”

Insiders at the ministry also said Mr Aduda was reluctant to leave the petroleum ministry when his redeployment came from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation.

“Ambassador Aduda feels that he can determine which Ministry he serves as Permanent Secretary because of their influence,” another official of the petroleum ministry told this newspaper.

In one instance, despite relinquishing the office of Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr Aduda was seen in a photograph receiving the OPEC Secretary General, Haitham Al Ghais, in Nigeria recently.

Aduda welcomed OPEC Secretary General Credit: Gabriel Aduda X Account

Similarly, Mr Lokpobiri and Mr Aduda were seen in a photograph dated 2 June 2024, where the pair attended an OPEC meeting virtually.

Minister Lokpobiri attend s meeting with Gabriel Aduda Credit: Gabriel Aduda X account

One source said Mr Aduda, an indigene of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, is currently lobbying to succeed the outgoing Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan. PREMIUM TIMES could, however, not independently verify that claim.

This is not the first controversy Mr Aduda will be embroiled in.

This newspaper, in an exclusive report in May 2014, detailed how Mr Aduda was smuggled into the federal civil service despite failing promotional and confirmation examinations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

He was said to have relied on the clout of his brother, Philip Aduda, who was a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator for the FCT at the time, to get into the service in breach of extant laws.

After Mr Aduda flunked the examination, he resigned after a re-mark of his papers showed that he indeed performed abysmally.

However, six months after his resignation, Mr Aduda was named the Director in charge of the Economic Research and Policy Management Department of the Federal Ministry of Finance. From then, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Petroleum Resources and now with the Ministry of Women Affairs.