Encomiums have continued to pour in for the appointment of the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.
Leading the torrent of commendation is the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who described Kyari’s appointment as well as that of the new Chief Operating Officers as “well-deserved.”
While wishing them success in their various positions, Baru expressed optimism that the new GMD and his team would deliver on their respective mandates in line with the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the dreams of the Corporation’s founding fathers.
In their separate congratulatory messages, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), also applauded Kyari’s appointment as the 19th GMD by Mr. President.
In a letter addressed to the new GMD, OPEC Scribe, Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, said the appointment came as no surprise and as a testament to Kyari’s exemplary record and exceptional performance over the years in his illustrious career at the NNPC.
“You have earned the respect of your colleagues in OPEC’s Economic Commission Board (ECB) where you have conducted yourself with gravitas and greatly contributed to the discussions and decisions of this body,” Barkindo stated.
Prior to his appointment, Kyari was Nigeria’s National Representative at the OPEC, a job he combined with the Group General Manager in charge of NNPC’s Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD).
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr. Waziri Adio, in his congratulatory message, described Kyari as a well-known transparency champion who shared the principles which underline NEITI’s work and the global EITI on good governance of the oil and gas industry.
“As a member of the global EITI Working Group on commodity trading transparency, Kyari’s appointment has placed him in a vantage position to push the frontiers of openness and to work more closely with NEITI and the global EITI,” Adio concluded.
Mallam Mele Kyari, the incoming GMD, will take over from Dr. Maikanti Baru who will be retiring on 7th July, 2019, upon clocking the statutory age of 60.
