JONATHAN FIRES NNPC GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR,THREE GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

According to a statement by the President's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity,Dr Reuben Abati,President Jonathan Goodluck has asked the GMD of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) Mr Austen Oniwon and three GEDs to go on immediate retirement.He has named Mr Andrew Yakubu as the new GMD.Click on read more below to continue....The three GEDs asked to go on immediate retirement are Michael Arokodare, (Finance &Accounts),Mr Philip Chukwu,(Refineries & Petrochemicals) and Mr Billy Agha(Engineering & Technology).The President said the shake-up was to further strengthen the ongoing transformation of  Nigeria's petroleum sector to achieve greater transparency and accountability in government. Oniwon was overdue for retirement since last year but the President extended his tenure at the request of the Petroleum minister,Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke.Analysts say his removal was a strategy by the President to douse the outcry that followed the recent probe into the nation's fuel subsidy regime and that the shake-up was not holistic as the minister was not removed.