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It may be early days yet but all appears not to be well between the government of Ghana led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP’s) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) over the “alleged” decision by the former to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the latter.

Over the weekend, Board Chairman of GOIL, Prof. William Asumaning dismissed media reports of the appointment of a new head for the oil company and impliedly accused President Akufo-Addo of sidestepping the due process in removing and appointing a GOIL CEO (IF THE REPORT WAS TRUE), following a story headlined "Nana Addo Picks New Heads for Forestry Commission, Ghana Health Service and GOIL".

The president reportedly fired the CEO and Managing Director of Goil, Mr. Patrick A.K Akorli, and appointed Mr. Osei Prempeh to replace him. But government's decision has been criticized by some including the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers.

A statement issued by GOIL Board also strongly denounced the report and appeared to take a subtle dig at the appointing authority.

However, it appears the GOIL Board may have “goofed” in responding to news of the “appointment”.

Peacefmonline.com sources at the presidency say, no such announcement has been made by the president.

Highly-placed officials at the seat of government questioned whether there was a correspondence from official quarters to the GOIL board regarding the said appointment, or if it (board) simply reacted to reports flying about in the media. 

Attempts to reach out to GOIL Management on the issue, particularly on whether they (Board) admit the inappropriateness of their hasty action, have been met with NO COMMENT from officials.

As it is now, the attempt to clarify the process involved in the appointment or removal of a GOIL CEO and also dismiss reports of a head without any form of communication from government to that effect, smacks of a highly-respected body that hastily reacts to news or reports about its operations without finding out the veracity or otherwise of such claims.

But while GOIL may have committed a huge “faux pas” judging by its hurried reaction, Ghanaians and more importantly, industry watchers are also worried that, nearly 72 hours about the purported news on the appointment of a new GOIL CEO (IF INDEED IT IS FALSE) from the seat of government, no disclaimer been issued.  Why the loud silence?

Is it that the announcement of the appointment of a new head for GOIL is credible and that of the Forestry Commission and Ghana Health Service same?

And if the report of the appointment is indeed FALSE, where did the news originate from and for what purposes? Or is it the case of an attempt by some (either within or without government) for their own parochial interest?

Intense Pressure, Blackmail Or What?

Or perhaps, it buttresses reports of attempted blackmailing of those at the helm of affairs to force their hand in a certain regard?

It would be recalled that about a month ago, the Presidency came under intense pressure from party supporters over the choice of persons to fill the various metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) positions.

On January 22, some party youths in Bole-Bamboi Constituency warned the party over the purported endorsement of NPP Communication Director for the constituency, Abdulai Ibrahim as the DCE.

They hinted of dire consequences for the party if the decision is carried through.

This was followed by skirmishes in Accra at Odododiodoo constituency and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district in the Northern Region over a similar decision.

Subsequently, the party through Acting NPP General Secretary, John Boadu issued a stern warning to its supporters that it would not succumb to these obvious acts of blackmail over the appointment of the various MMDCEs across the country.

For now, we await a disclaimer from the presidency on the “false” news of the appointment of a new GOIL CEO, and the perpetrators fished out and disciplined, or we accept that indeed a new head for the oil company has been named!