NEWS
Read The Leaked Controversial Letter Kachikwu Wrote to President Buhari Accusing NNPC Boss of Insubordination
Published
7 years agoon
By
Reporter
On Wednesday, excerpts of a letter written to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, dated August 30, 2017, leaked to the press.
In the letter, Kachikwu accused the GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru of insubordination and humiliation.
Kachikwu, in the letter, said Baru had been sidelining him and the corporation’s board (of which Kachikwu is chairman), making appointments and awarding contracts without due consultations.
The full letter has been released to the press.
Read the letter below:
His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Presidential Villa Abuja
Your Excellency,
RE: MATTERS OF INSUBORDINATION AND LACK OF ADHERENCE TO DUE PROCESS PERPETUATED BY THE GMD NNPC – DR. BARU
FELICITATIONS
Let me start by welcoming you back to the country and by thanking God for your recovery from ill health. I join millions of Nigerians who rejoice and thank God for grating you the grace of healing and strength to continue the good work you have done for Nigeria in your long illustrious career in public service. I would have wanted to come personally after receiving you at the airport to facilitate with you and discuss matters herein contained, however, I have been unable to secure an appointment to see you despite very many attempts.
VARIOUS ACTIVITIES OF THE GMD
Mr. President, yesterday like many other Nigerians. I resumed work confronted by many publications of massive changed within NNPC. Like the previous reorganizations and reposting done since Dr. Baru resumed as GMD. I was never given the opportunity before the announcements to discuss these appointments. This is so despite being Minister of State of Petroleum and Chairman NNPC Board.
The Board of NNPC which you appointed and which has met every month since its inauguration and, which by the statues of NNPC is meant to review these planned appointments and postings, was never briefed. Members of the Board learned of these appointments from the pages of social media and the press release of NNPC.
At the minimum and like all other Parastatals being supervised by me at the Ministry have continued to do, and in compliance with the proper governance standards expected of a serious public institution, these executive actions by NNPC were supposed to benefit from mine and the Board’s input prior to presentation to you. I need to add that backdoor and present same to the acting president were met with a request that this be discussed with me. This was never done.
Indeed, in anticipation of vacancies that would arise from retiring senior executives of NNPC, I wrote the GMD A letter requesting that we both have prior review of the proposed appointments. This was to enable me to present same to the Board or give an anticipatory approval and then review with the Board later (Appendix 1). I wrote to the GMD given previous happenstance of this nature, in addition, thereafter, I called the GMD to a private meeting where I discussed these issues. Needless to say that, not only did he not give my letter the courtesy of a reply, he proceeded to announce the appointments without consultation or Board concurrence.
Mr. President please not that there is a Board Services Committee whose function is to review potential appointments and terminations of Senior Staff prior to implementation. This committee was also not consulted.
The above is just one of the many occurrences of disrespectful experiences I have encountered with the GMD as your Minister of State.
CONTRACTS
The legal and procedural requirements are that all contracts above $20m would need to be reviewed and approved by the Board of NNPC. Mr. President over one year of Dr. Baru’s tenure, no contract has been run through the Board. This is despite my diplomatic encouragement to Dr. Baru to do so to avoid wrongfully painting you as a President who does not allow Due Process to thrive NNPC. Given the history of malpractices and the public perception of NNPC as having a history of non-transparency (Appendix 2: NEITI report), the NNPC Tenders Board (NTB) cannot be the final clearance authority for contracts it enters into. The NTB which is a collection of top level NNPC executives and COOs, with the GMD as Chairman, cannot continue to be the final approval authority for multi-million dollar contracts and transactions involving NNPC to the exclusion of the Board. Board members have singularly and collectively raised these issues to no avail. (Appendix 3: Letter from Vice President on Expanded Contract)
The following major contracts were never reviewed by or discussed with me Board of NNPC:
The Crude Term contracts- value at over $10bn
The DSDP contracts- value over $5bn
The AKK pipeline contract- value approximately $3bn
Various financing allocation funding contracts with the NOCs – value over $3bn
Various NPDC production service contracts – value at over $3bn–$4bnThere are many more Your Excellency, in most of these activities, the explanation of the GMD is that you are the Minister of Petroleum and your approvals were obtained. However, the correct governance should be that the Minister of the State and the Board review the transaction and give their concurrence prior to presentation to you. As I many cases of things that happen in NNPC these days. I learn of transactions only through publications in the media. The question is why is that the Parastatals which I supervise as Minister of State or Chair of their Board are able to go through these contractual and mandatory governances processed and yet NNPC is exempt from these?
I know that bravado management style runs contrary to the cleansing operations you engaged me to catty out at the inception of your administration. This is also not in consonance with your renowned standards of integrity.
WORKING RELATIONSHIP
Your Excellency, even though the appointments of the other Parastatals Heads in my Ministry were made without my input. I have maintained a cordial and respectful relationship with all. Parastatals under my supervision have continued to excel in their respective areas and adhere to mandatory governance processes. However, my working relationship with GMDs has been fraught with humiliation, sidelining and campaigns of character defamation against me. This is particularly frustrating given many contributions I have made to the growth and stability of the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry through the many policies I have introduced August 2015.
If NNPC is considered and known to be one of the Parastatals under the Ministry, why does the GMD refuse to report into my office or to the Board on the serious issues such as above especially given that I have been by Your Grace, the Minister overseeing these Parastatals for two years?
Your Excellency, even at the time when we were unfortunate to have you away to England for a medical checkup, the situation remained the same.
MEETINGS
The matter of collaborative meeting is another issue altogether. When I call for meetings, the GMD chooses which meetings he wishes to attend and those he chooses to send subordinate. He sends such subordinates without the courtesy of a call to explain his absence. The unattended meetings are in the majority. In all of 2017, I have been able only to get him to have one on one meetings with me about four to five times.
At inception, I instituted a Monthly Parastatals review meeting with Head of Agencies and another with the all the Senior management in all the Parastatals. GMD objected to his Senior Staff coming to the Joint Senior Management meetings. He argued that this was overreaching his territory. He was only comfortable with the Monthly of all Heads of Agencies meetings which he has only attended a few times. I have had to carry on with the rest of the Ministry. Despite being Chairman of NNPC Board. I have tried to manage the bad perception created by GMDs blatant insubordination and disrespectful attitude. Particularly I have worked hard to avoid being seen as pretty and meddlesome.
FEAR CULTURE
The effect of the attitude of the GMD and the sidelining of the Board is that there is a fear culture in NNPC. The open administration I introduced, with your support in our first year of pushing reforms, has been completely eroded. The essence of this innovation was to drive great working interface and interaction amongst all Parastatals in the Petroleum sector. Other Parastatals have benefitted from this.
NNPC staff are afraid of contacting me to avoid being punished, sidelined in appointments and targeted. Indeed, the key factor for growth and advancement in NNPC of today is to avoid the Minister of State’s Office.
VARIOUS ACCUSATIONS
In order to convince to your Excellency of the need to sideline me, I am sure I have been labeled as being.
I.Anti-North
II.Corrupt
III. In Collusion With Militants
Some faceless blogs have even had the audacity to circulate such rumors. Nothing Your Excellency can be further from the truth. I mention this because this will be the likely response you will receive to this attempt I am making to alert you on the state of affairs under the GMD’s leadership.
These accusations are baseless.
I. ANTI-NORTH
First, all my appointments were generated with key inputs from all the COOs of NNPC and were balanced and based strictly on skills, experience, drive, and ethnic balancing for senior management positions. Mid-level positions were sole suggestions of the COOs. Let me say for the records that I am a completely detribalized Nigerian and I have lived my formative years in the East, West, North, and South-South part of the Country. My Father was a Federal High Court Judge in most parts of the North. My siblings and I benefited from growing up in Kano. In addition, I have resided and worked in Rivers, Delta, Lagos, Oyo, Enugu, Anambra, etc. I have no reason to be anti-North because in my working career I have found that good and skillful people abound everywhere in our Nation.
II.CORRUPTION
I have done nothing in my time at NNPC or the Ministry that is corrupt or laced with any such intent. In my time as GMD, all policies and contracts were generated by the Heads of Division, approved by COOs, passed through NTB and (in the absence of a Board at the time) I received your approvals, I have had no relationship with any one of or any transaction in my period that was product of a personal deal or an arrangement, if anyone benefited from NNPC contracts, they did so on their merit and I rarely participated in those contractual processes except to review them.
Anyone peddling any contrary information is resorting to cheap blackmail.
III.MILITANTS AND SECURITY:
I took on the issue of security headlong because it was the primary causative factor for production that declined from 2.2 mpbd to 1mpbd at our lowest point (November 2016). At great risk to my life. I visited militant camps, coordinated with our security apparatus, organized the four of the HEVP to several frontline states and worked with PANDEF and other groups to bring calm and increase production and some measures of stability to what it is today.
I have never betrayed the trust you placed on me. I did not deploy any public financial resources to achieve the results in the Niger Delta region. Most times I have utilized my personal resources and goodwill accumulated over the many years prior to my appointment to achieve these far reaching results and of course all these were with collaborations with Agencies of the government (Office of the VP, DSS, NSA, etc.)
I dare mention that the blueprint of these engagements were discussed with and approved by you.
Given the sensitivity of my position, I remain one of the most tracked officers of your government, so if there is any truth to these rumors, you would have known.
Mr. President you took me from the private sector where I left an enviable track record of performance and integrity spanning over 25 years rising to the highest positions in multinational oil sector organization. I came to this job with the zeal to change the sector. Measurable progress has been made and more would have been achieved but for the challenges I have listed above.
THE FUTURE OF THE OIL INDUSTRY
Mr. President I have been on a race to stabilize and move the industry to the next phase. Timing is critical. The sector is also in a critical state where only innovative ideas can stop the alarming impact of the fall of oil prices on the National Income. The innovations that we have developed and stated implementing in the Downstream, Upstream, Policy generation and Niger Delta Security have enabled the sector to stabilize slightly. However, truth is that given the global challenge in this sector, we must aggressively pursue out of the box ideas on rejuvenating this sector, getting the best yield and increasing our earnings from oil and gas. What this means is that Parastatals in the Ministry and all CEOs of these Parastatals must be aligned with the policy drive of the supervising Ministry to allow the sector register of the growth that has eluded it for many years. To do otherwise or to exempt any of the Parastatals would emplace a stunted growth industry.
PRAYERS
My prayers most humbly and respectfully are:
That we save NNPC and the oil industry from collapse arising from the above non-transparent practices and empower the Board you inaugurated to do the needful.
That you save the office of the Minister of State from further humiliation and disrespect by compelling all Parastatals to submit to oversight regulatory mandate and proper supervision which I am supposed to manage on your behalf.
You kindly instruct the GMD to effectively leave NNPC to run as a proper institution and report out along due process lines to the Board and that your Excellency instructs that all reviews be done with the Minister of State prior to your decision.
That to set the right examples, you approve that recently announced reorganization changes be suspended until the GMD, myself, and the Board have made relevant input to same. This will send a clear signal of process and transparency.
That your Excellency encouraged joint presentation meetings between heads of Parastatals and the Minister of State to you so as to encourage a culture of working together and implant discipline in the hierarchy.These in my view, Mr. President, will provide you balanced analysis on issues and avoid exposing the exalted office of Mr. President to ridicule. It will also reduce nonproductive, unsubstantiated rumor peddling.
Mr. President, I thank you for the opportunities given me to serve and I wish you continued full recovery. I remain loyal and very proud of you Sir.
Mr. President kindly accept the assurances of my highest esteem and loyalty.
Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu
Honorable Minister of State Petroleum Resources.
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BUSINESS
Samsung Galaxy S25 Series Sets The Standard Of AI Phones As A True AI Companion
Published
1 month agoon
January 31, 2025
Samsung Galaxy S25 series sets the standard of AI phones as a true AI companion
…Pioneering the multimodal era with the most context-aware and personalized mobile experience
Lagos, Nigeria – January 23, 2025 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has announced the Samsung Galaxy S25 series: Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25, setting a new standard as a true AI companion with the most natural and context-aware mobile experiences ever created. Introducing multimodal AI agents, the Galaxy S25 series is the first step in Samsung’s vision to change the way users interact with their phone – and with their world.
A first-of-its-kind customized Snapdragon® 8 Elite Mobile Platform for Galaxy chipset delivers greater on-device processing power for Galaxy AI and superior camera range and control with Galaxy’s next-gen ProVisual Engine.

Galaxy S25 Ultra
With One UI 7, the Galaxy S25 series is a true AI companion that understands the context of your needs and preferences and provides personalized AI experiences with privacy assured at every turn.
It’s the starting point of a shared vision with Google to imagine Android with AI at the core, bringing together developers and partners from around the world.
AI agents with multimodal capabilities enable Galaxy S25 to interpret text, speech, images and videos for interactions that feel natural. Upgrades to Google’s Circle to Search make searching your phone screen more helpful, fast and contextual. Circle to Search now quickly recognizes phone numbers, email and URLs on your screen, letting you call, email or visit a website with a single tap.
With Galaxy S25 series, you can also perform actionable searches with context-aware suggestions for next steps. Plus, Galaxy S25 makes it frictionless to switch between apps for quick follow-up actions, like sharing a GIF or saving event details.
Galaxy S25 represents a breakthrough in natural language understanding, making everyday interactions easier. Simply ask and intuitively find a specific photo in Samsung Gallery or adjust the size of display fonts in Settings.
In the era of AI, personalization goes hand in hand with privacy. On the Galaxy S25, the Personal Data Engine powers personalized AI features by safely analyzing your data on-device to deliver highly tailored experiences that reflect your preferences and usage patterns.
These insights enable tailored experiences, such as using natural language to search for an old photo in the Gallery or being guided through the day with Now Brief, which proactively offers suggestions accessible via Now Bar on the lock screen. Knox Vault keeps all personalized data private and secure.
Combined with enhanced on-device processing capabilities, this creates a powerful, protected AI experience that is unique to Galaxy.

Galaxy S25+
Galaxy’s Most Powerful Performance Ever
The Galaxy S25 series is powered by the Snapdragon® 8 Elite for Galaxy. With unique customizations by Galaxy, this is the most powerful processor ever on the Galaxy S series. Further delivering a performance boost of 40% in NPU, 37% in CPU and 30% in GPU. This is compared to the previous generation.
This power fuels the Galaxy S25 series’ ability to process more AI experiences on-device without compromise, including previously cloud-based AI tasks such as Generative Edit.
10-bit HDR recording is now applied by default, offering four times richer color expression compared to 8-bit. Galaxy S25 can thus capture details in any lighting conditions. Plus, low-light videos have never been clearer than with Galaxy S25.
Based on powerful processor, Galaxy S25 analyzes movement and time to reduce noise more effectively. This integration allows detecting both moving and static objects with greater precision, ensuring sharper, cleaner footage in any scenario.
Galaxy S25 also introduces a range of tools once limited to specialized software, making advanced editing accessible for all. Now anyone can be a pro at editing photos and videos. Audio Eraser simplifies the removal of unwanted noise in videos. By isolating categories of sounds – including voices, music, wind, nature, crowd and noise – you can control what to tone down or eliminate entirely.

Galaxy S25 Series
Durable Design Embracing a More Circular Approach
The Galaxy S25 series builds upon Galaxy’s ‘Essential Design’ grounded in ‘Simple, Impactful and Emotive’ elements.
Galaxy S25 Ultra refines this essence into the slimmest, lightest and most durable Galaxy S series yet. This is with a rounded edge for a comfortable grip that complements the series’ aesthetic identity.
Galaxy S25 Ultra features durable titanium and the new Corning® Gorilla® Armor 2, a first-of-its-kind material that is more durable than glass. It combines Corning’s glass-ceramic with a proprietary anti-reflective surface treatment. This helps to ensure advanced drop protection alongside anti-reflection surface treatment and scratch resistance.
Combined with seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates, the Galaxy S25 series ensures a reliable and optimized performance over a longer lifespan.
For greater peace of mind, Samsung Care+ offers comprehensive coverage for accidental damage, repairs, and replacements, ensuring peace of mind for Galaxy users.
The Galaxy S25 series is available to order. Galaxy S25 Ultra will be available in Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Black, Titanium Whitesilver and Titanium Gray. Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ will be available in Navy, Silver Shadow, Icyblue and Mint.
For more information about the Galaxy S25 series, please visit: Samsung Newsroom, SamsungMobilePress.com or Samsung.com.
MOVIES
Nollywood Director, Kemi Adetiba Teases King Of Boys 3
Published
2 months agoon
January 9, 2025By
Reporter
Nollywood director Kemi Adetiba has revealed that another instalment of King of Boys will be released on December 25, 2025. She made this announcement on her birthday through an Instagram post.
“KOB Army…. ARISE!!! It’s time…. We MOOOOOOOVE. Signed: Your General. #KOB3 #TheBeginningOfTheEnd #DettyDecember25 #KAV25,” she said.
Earlier in 2023, director Kemi Adetiba commenced pre-production for the next instalment of King of Boys.
Alongside this, she hinted at the upcoming releases of “To Kill A Monkey” and “Welcome to the Fourth.” This new King of Boys instalment, subtitled “The Beginning of the End,” will feature a blend of familiar faces and exciting new characters.
The feature-length film will make its debut in cinemas on December 25, 2025. This groundbreaking series centres around Alhaja Eniola Salami, a powerful businesswoman and philanthropist embroiled in a high-stakes power struggle.
The first film, released in 2018, captivated audiences with its compelling narrative and exceptional performances. Its sequel, “King of Boys: The Return of the King,” premiered on Netflix in 2021.
The original film boasted an ensemble cast, including the formidable Sola Sobowale as Eniola Salami, alongside Nse Ikpe-Etim, Jide Kosoko, Adesua Etomi, and Richard Mofe-Damijo.
READ ALSO: “Everybody Loves Jenifa” Become The Highest Grossing Film of All Time
Kemi Adetiba’s career began as a radio presenter at Rhythm 93.7 FM, where she hosted the popular shows “Soul’d Out” and “Sunday at the Seaside.”
During this time, she anonymously shared her remixes on platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud under the pseudonym “Hule.”
Transitioning to television, Adetiba became a prominent figure on Mnet, producing and hosting popular shows such as “Studio 53” and “Temptation Nigeria” alongside Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa.
She also hosted the Maltina Dance All reality show for three consecutive seasons.
After achieving on-screen success, Adetiba pursued her passion for filmmaking. She enrolled at the New York Film Academy to hone her filmmaking skills.
This decision led to international recognition for her work. Her short film, “Across a Bloodied Ocean,” was showcased at the 2009 Pan African Film Festival and the National Black Arts Festival.
Her directorial debut, “The Wedding Party,” a romantic comedy, premiered on September 8, 2016, as the opening film of the City-to-City Spotlight at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
MOVIES
“Everybody Loves Jenifa” Becomes Nollywood’s Highest-Grossing Film Of All Time
Published
2 months agoon
January 8, 2025By
Reporter
Nollywood filmmaker Funke Akindele has achieved a historic milestone with her latest film, “Everybody Loves Jenifa.”
The film has officially broken box office records, surpassing the ₦1 billion mark to become the highest-grossing Nollywood movie of all time.
This groundbreaking achievement was announced by FilmOne, the film’s distributor, on their official Instagram page.
“Everybody Loves Jenifa” has officially hit a historic ₦1.466 billion and counting at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film of all time! A massive THANK YOU to our incredible audiences in Nigeria and Ghana for making this dream a reality. Your support is everything. On to even greater heights! Still showing in cinemas near you—experience the magic on the big screen,” the statement read.
Akindele continues her reign as a dominant force in Nollywood with this latest triumph.
“Everybody Loves Jenifa” achieved this remarkable feat in less than two weeks, further solidifying her legacy of box office successes.
Last year, her film “A Tribe Called Judah” made history by becoming the first Nollywood film to surpass the ₦1 billion mark, firmly establishing her as the queen of Nigerian cinema.
In 2023, Akindele’s “Battle on Buka Street” also achieved record-breaking success, surpassing the previous record set by her own blockbuster, “Omo Ghetto: The Saga.”
The “Jenifa” franchise has transcended the realm of a mere movie series, evolving into a cultural phenomenon.
Akindele first introduced the iconic character “Jenifa” to audiences in the 2008 Yoruba-language film “Jenifa,” captivating viewers with her wit and charm.
The character’s popularity skyrocketed with the 2015 launch of “Jenifa’s Diary.” Interestingly, the series is a beloved television series that seamlessly blended humour with valuable life lessons.
With “Everybody Loves Jenifa,” Akindele elevates the character to new heights. She delivers a heartwarming and comedic story that resonates deeply with fans.
The film boasts a stellar ensemble cast, featuring Funke Akindele as Jenifa, Folarin “Falz” Falana as Sege.
Also, Jackie Appiah, Nancy Isime, Stan Nze, Bisola Aiyeola, Patience Ozokwor, Chimezie Imo, and Isaac Olayiwola (Layi Wasabi) brought life to the movie.
Check out more movie updates here.
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