NNPCL’s secret deal with OVH leaves workers angry, disillusioned
A wave of excitement filled the atmosphere when the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission Limited (NNPCL), last October, announced the acquisition of OVH Energy Marketing Limited, the company behind the Oando Retail brand in West African countries. The then board chairperson of NNPC Limited, Margret Okadigbo, said the acquisition would strengthen NNPC’s downstream business portfolio and enhance national energy security and profitability.
NNPCL had the intention to have 1,500 filling stations, Ms Okadigbo said, and the acquisition would bring over 380 additional filling stations operated by OVH Energy under the NNPC Retail brand in Nigeria and Togo.
“We will be Africa’s largest petroleum product retail network,” she was quoted as saying in an NNPCL statement.
Although the news was exciting, the events trailing the acquisition of OVH Energy are disillusioning. Despite a Freedom Of Information request, NNPCL kept details of the acquisition under wraps with many alleging shadiness. However, PREMIUM TIMES found that the acquisition of OVH Energy has turned NNPC Retail into a toxic workspace with officials of the former taking over the running of the latter, and causing anger and disillusionment among staff.
The OVH Energy acquisition
The narrative that trailed the acquisition of OVH Energy by NNPCL was that the Africa-focused downstream company is highly lucrative with over 300 filling stations across the country and above. The simple interpretation of this is that with the acquisition of OVH Energy, NNPC Retail would take over all its filling stations, turning it into the largest downstream company in Africa.
To be clear, in 2015, Oando PLC, then Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy group, announced a $210 million deal to change the capital structure of its corporations by merging with HV Investments II B.V., an Africa-focused private investment firm, and the Vitol Group (“Vitol”), then known as the world’s largest independent trader of energy commodities.
On 30 June 2015, a new company was formed to hold interests in Oando Marketing Limited and its subsidiaries by merging the two companies. Oando PLC would then retain 49 per cent shareholding in the newly formed downstream firm, with the Consortium owning 49 per cent, while Residual, a local entity, owned just 2 per cent. The recapitalised corporations would be renamed OVH Energy (“OVH”), reflecting its ownership structure and the commitment of its new shareholders.
In 2022, NNPCL announced the outright acquisition of OVH Energy. By this acquisition, OVH Energy would be merged with NNPC Retail, a subsidiary of NNPC Limited.
“Our acquisition of OVH brings more NNPC branded fuel stations under the NNPC Retail Limited umbrella, providing wider access for our customers, an enriched supply chain and product availability across our different locations,” the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said in a statement to Nigerians.
However, those with vast knowledge of the NNPC’s inner workings told PREMIUM TIMES that exciting claims made to justify the acquisition of OVH Energy were exaggerated. They accused the NNPC of deliberately pushing inaccurate narratives to deceive the public about the purchase of OVH Energy. The insiders would not want to be named over the fear of victimisation by the Mr Kyari-led management. “Only about 94 stations are OVH owned; over 100 stations were leased while others are affiliations,” a senior NNPCL official with access to the information, told PREMIUM TIMES. His view was corroborated by at least two other officials with all of them saying that NNPC’s claim of owning 300 new stations by acquiring OVH was false.
“This is one of the most shady deals ever in the oil industry globally. Not even the executive vice presidents of the NNPC know the details of the acquisition,” one other senior NNPCL official said.
OVH Energy takes over NNPC Retail
In the eyes of the public, the NNPC has taken over OVH Energy by acquiring it. But in operational terms, it is OVH Emergy that has taken over the affairs of NNPC Retail in what one NNPC Retail official described as “the worst possible acquisition deal ever”.
Upon the acquisition of OVH Energy and its incorporation into NNPC Retail, a new Managing Director was to be appointed. Senior officials of NNPC Retail expected that one of them would be appointed the managing director. This was a given, they thought. After all, it was an acquisition, with the larger and more profitable NNPC buying the smaller and loss-making OVH.
They were wrong.
First, the Mr Kyari-led management team appointed Huub Stoksman, an expatriate and former Chief Executive Officer of OVH Energy, as the new Managing Director of the NNPC Retail. Mr Kyari also appointed the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of OVH Energy, Mumuni Dangazau, as his Special Adviser Downstream.
Many officials of the NNPCL, including senior staff, believe Mr Dangazau’s appointment effectively sidelined the Executive Vice President (EVP) Downstream of the NNPC whose office ordinarily oversees NNPC Retail.
“The EVP has no say any more in NNPC Retail. It’s between Stoksman, Dangazau and Kyari. He is not even on the board of NNPC Retail,” one official said.
PREMIUM TIMES findings show that the EVP Downstream used to be a member of the board of NNPC Retail until the Petroleum Industry Act was signed into law after which a new board was constituted.
Our findings show that the appointments of Messrs Dangazau and Stoksman by Mr Kyari stirred controversy among the staff of NNPC Retail. Here is why.
In March 2022, Mr Dangazau became a director at Nueoil Energy Limited, a Nigerian oil company. Before then, he had been the COO of OVH Energy, which is now integrated into NNPC Retail. In September 2022, Nueoil acquired OVH Energy. And by October 2022, NNPCL announced the acquisition of OVH Energy. The role Mr Dangazau played in the acquisition of OVH remains unclear for now but NNPCL officials say he was central to the deal.
For Mr Stoksman’s appointment, officials wondered why Mr Kyari felt no Nigerian was good enough to lead NNPC Retail after the acquisition. They expressed worry that none of the NNPC Retail management team, who had ensured the subsidiary remained profitable compared to some other NNPCL subsidiaries, was good enough to be appointed the managing director. The officials were curious about why Mr Stoksman, an expatriate that led OVH, a loss-making organisation, was appointed MD of a profit-making NNPC Retail despite the existence of competent hands within the NNPCL.
Profitable NNPC Retail ‘consumed’ by OVH Energy
Since his appointment as the Managing Director, Mr Stoksman has ensured a virtual takeover of NNPC REtail by OVH, this newspaper found. First, he set up a management team for NNPC Retail, made up of about 75 per cent of OVH staff. This led to grumblings by serving officials of the NNPC Retail. As of Monday, of the 12 management team members of NNPC Retail, including Mr Stoksman, none was from the old NNPC Retail, three from NNPCL and nine from OVH.
“Did we acquire them or did they acquire us, how come they are now the ones in the management,” one NNPC Retail staff pondered.
Also, on 5 June, Mr Stoksman summoned a staff meeting and announced that the headquarters of the NNPC Retail would be moved to Lagos, where OVH is headquartered.
“I could not believe my ears when he said that,” an NNPC Retail staff who attended the Abuja virtual meeting told PREMIUM TIMES. “Only God knows what deal Kyari signed with them, perhaps they are the ones that bought NNPC Retail.”
On Monday, PREMIUM TIMES contacted the spokesperson of the NNPCL, Garba-Deen Muhammad, on our findings contained in this story. Mr Muhammad did not pick up our calls but responded to a text message in which he said he would get back to our reporter. He has yet to do so at the time of this report.
NNPC Retail has been profitable since 2017, an independent verification by PREMIUM TIMES, based on reviews of the financial details of the two companies, showed.
PREMIUM TIMES reviewed the financial details of the two companies prior to the acquisition.
In 2021, the NNPC Retail said it sold N283.6 billion worth of petrol, diesel, kerosene, gas and lubricants across its 550 stations. An increase of N83.3 billion compared to the N200.3 billion worth of products it sold in 2020, according to its audited statement for the 2021 fiscal year. PremiumTimes
