The management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has clarified that the corporation has neither 70,000 staff members in its employ nor is it embarking on a staff performance probe.

The clarification is sequel to reports in a section of the media to the effect that NNPC has a staff strength of over 70,000 and was about conducting a performance audit of staff across its operations globally.

In a statement, the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, explained that NNPC has never at a point in its history maintained a 70,000 staff strength and wondered the source of such erroneous information.

“NNPC is not embarking on any staff performance audit. What we said in the press release that was apparently misrepresented in the media was that the Chief Operating Officers, COOs, of the various Autonomous Business Units signed performance bonds with the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, as part of efforts to ensure that all the units deliver on their mandates in the upcoming year. There was nothing in that statement that indicated that NNPC would carry out a performance probe of staff”, Mr. Ughamadu explained.

He urged journalists to always adhere to the ethics of the profession and seek clarification whenever they were not sure about any information contained in press statements, adding that the doors of the Corporation were always opened to such inquiries.