The restructuring at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation continued on Friday as the oil firm’s new Group Managing Director, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, redeployed the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe.

Komolafe, according to the NNPC, is to now serve as the Group General Manager, Special Duties.

The most senior General Manager in the Crude Oil Marketing Division, Mr. Musa Usman, was directed to function as the Group General Manager in acting capacity.

The crude oil marketing division of the NNPC has been criticised by industry observers as one of the most corrupt arms of the corporation.

On Tuesday, the New York-based Natural Resources Governance Initiative canvassed the need to overhaul the management of the country’s oil sales by the NNPC.

It also advised President Muhammadu Buhari to clean up the system to stem waste and loss of billions of dollars in revenue.

The international watchdog said in one of its latest reports that the NNPC’s approach to oil sales was suffering from high corruption risks, which it described as responsible for the country’s failure to maximise returns in the oil sector.

The authors of the NRGI report, led by Aaron Sayne, said, “We find that the management of NNPC’s oil sales has worsened in recent years, and particularly since 2010. The largest problems stem from the rising number of ad hoc, makeshift practices the corporation has introduced to work around its deeper structural problems.”

The NNPC receives about one million barrels of oil per day, or almost half of the country’s total production, part of which is sold to its subsidiary, Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, for the country’s refineries, while a larger volume is sold to traders.

The NRGI stated in the 73-page report, “Nigeria is the only major, stable world oil producer that sells crude mostly to traders rather than end-users. The NNPC enters into term contracts with unqualified intermediaries that capture margins for themselves and create reputational risks for legitimate market players, while adding little or no value to deals.”