Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The controversies that followed the just-concluded bid round of 57 marginal fields has reportedly caused the sacking of all the deputy directors of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
According to Nigerian NewsDirect, the sack of the directors was initiated over the disputes that railed the selection of winners and matching of companies exclusively done by the Director of the agency, Mr Sarki Auwalu.
According to the report, the round had gone contrary to the global oil industry practice of public opening of bids.
There were claims that the current management chose to send electronic mails to selected winners with a directive to pay a proportion of the signature bonus into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the federal government.
The winners expressed fears over litigation that will come up with the matching of winners.
Last week, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timpre Sylva, announced that 50 per cent of the marginal field winners had paid for the signature bonus.
According to cited sources, the sudden sack was considered as a choice to ensure a firm grip of the DPR since most of the affected persons are senior to the head of the organisation.
It was added that some of them had participated in previous bid rounds conducted by the department and have more experience.
Efforts made to get a reaction from the Head Public Affairs Unit, Mr Paul Osu, proved abortive as there was no response to the text message and phone calls made to his phone line.
The affected deputy directors include Head, Corporate Services, Mr Isah Tafidah; Head, Engineering and Standard, Mr Akann Musa; Head, Downstream Monitoring and Regulation, Mr Mohammed Alaku; and Head, Upstream Monitoring and regulation, Mr Enorense Amadasu.
Others are Head, Safety, Health and Environment, Mr Olusanya Bajomo; Head, Planning, Mr Johnson Ajewole; and Head, Gas Monitoring and Regulation, Mr Musa Zagi.
According to the report, those promoted as replacement include a Mallam Ciroma who is replacing Mr Isa Tafida as Head, Corporate Services; Akann Musa who is also named as Head, Engineering and Standard, the position he has held before now; Mr Sadiq Bashir is replacing Mr Mohammed Alaku as Head, Downstream Monitoring and Regulation; and Mr Garba Salihu new Head, Upstream Monitoring and regulation, and a replacement for Mr Enorense Amadasu.
Others are Mr Balogun A.A, a replacement for Mr Olisanya Bajomo as Head, Safety, Health and Environment; Mr Babajide Fasina, new Head, Planning, and a replacement for Mr.l Johnson Ajewole; and Mr I.Y Abubakar, new Head, Gas Monitoring and Regulation, and a replacement for Mr Musa Zagi.
