The Spokesman for the corporation, Dr. Kennie Obateru, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

The corporation had in March disengaged some of its members of staff and appointed new top management members of staff.

The appointments elicited criticisms from some Nigerians and some Niger Delta leaders.

Obateru said that the principle of federal character was also a factor in the progression of the newly appointees.

He said that many top management officers of the corporation were moved to new positions, while some were promoted based on their verifiable track records of performance.

“Some Chief Operating Officers (COO), Group General Managers and Managing Directors of subsidiaries were affected in what some industry analysts described as the most objective placement exercise in the recent history of the National Oil Company,” he said.

Topping the list of the changes, he said, was the re-deployment of the erstwhile Chief Operating Officer (COO), Upstream, Mr. Roland Ewubare, to the Ventures and Business Development Directorate as COO.

He said that under the arrangement, Ewubare got an additional responsibility of business development besides managing the group’s ventures.

NNPC spokesman said Ewubare’s position as COO, Upstream, was taken over by Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, erstwhile Chief Operating Officer in charge of Downstream Directorate, noting that Adetunji was a first-class Mechanical Engineering graduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and started his over 30 years career as a maintenance engineer and later a project engineer in Lever Brothers Nigeria Limited (Unilever).

Obateru said that the recent top management appointments also received affirmative action with the re-deployment of Lawrencia Ndupu to the Downstream.

He said that Ndupu was a physicist and renowned exploration and started her working career in NNPC in January 1986, adding that through the years, she has held many key positions.

Obateru, who stated that Mr. Bala Wunti, the erstwhile Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, was appointed as the new GGM of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), said: “With a chain of experience spanning close to 30 years, Wunti who hailed from the North-East, was the initiator of ‘Operation White,’ a system put in place to promote transparency and accountability in the distribution of petroleum products across the country.

“The list also included Mr. Lawal Sade as the new Managing Director of the NNPC Trading Company, a subsidiary of the corporation.