The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday confirmed the disengagement of officials linked with missing 130 million litres of petrol.

In a statement, the NNPC said it sacked the staff in line with its ongoing reforms, while also announcing the deployment of others.

The retired staff are: Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, Managing Director, NNPC Retail Ltd; Mr. Alpha P. Mamza, Executive Director, Operations, NNPC Retail Ltd; and Mr. Oluwa Kayode Erinoso, Manager, Distribution, NNPC Retail Ltd.

Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, is the new Managing Director of NNPC Retail Ltd; Engr. Lawal Bello, Executive Director, Operations, NNPC Retail Ltd; Mrs. Affiong Akpasubi, Executive Director, Services, NNPC Retail Ltd; and Mr. Agwandas A. Andrawus, Manager, Distribution, NNPC Retail Ltd.

The appointments take effect, immediately.

Until his new assignment as the Managing Director of NNPC Retail Ltd, Mr. Adetunji was General Manager, Strategy & Planning, Gas & Power and also former General Manager, Transformation Office.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, charged the deployed staff to remain committed to their duties in line with the transformation aspirations of the Management.  NNPC management acted on a committee report in sacking Nnamdi- Ogbue and others.

“A committee submitted its report and NNPC has recommended their disengagement”. The officials were linked to the missing petrol stored at private depots through a throughput arrangement.

Mr Henry Ikem-Obih, a Chief Operating Officer (Downstream) in NNPC, had on March 17, revealed that about 130 million litres stored at the Capital Oil & Gas depot and over 30 million litres in MRS Limited depot, all in Apapa area of Lagos, were not found when needed.

Ikem-Obih had said the infraction by the two downstream companies was a clear violation of existing contract which prohibited the firms from tampering with the volumes in their custody without express permission of the corporation.

He said the companies were called to explain and given two options to either return the full volume of what was stored in their depots litre-for-litre or pay the full value of the products taken without approval.

He had also mentioned that NNPC alerted the Directorate of State Service (DSS), the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and relevant committees of National Assembly with oversight function on the corporation’s downstream operation to help recover the assets.

The officials were reported to have been sacked and later advised to resign, but are now officially disengaged from the services of the corporation.