The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said professional competence, adherence to the principle of transparency and accountability informed the recent top management appointment executed in the first week of March.
Dr Kennie Obateru, the spokesman for the corporation made this known in a statement issued in Abuja, on Sunday.
The appointments elicited criticisms from some Nigerians and some Niger-Delta leaders.
Obateru explained that the principle of federal character was also a factor in the progression of the new appointees.
He said many top management officers of the corporation were moved to new positions, while some were promoted based on their verifiable track records of performance.
“Some Chief Operating Officers, Group General Managers and Managing Directors of subsidiaries were affected in what some industry analysts described as the most objective placement exercise in the recent history of the National Oil Company.
Topping the list of the changes, he said, was the re-deployment of the erstwhile Chief Operating Officer (COO), Upstream, Mr Roland Ewubare, to the Ventures and Business Development Directorate as COO.
He said that under the arrangement, Ewubare, got an additional responsibility for business development, besides managing the group’s ventures.
