The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers and the Guild of Editors have described Femi Soneye’s stint as Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited as a successful tenure. 

This followed Mr Soneye’s announcement of his resignation as the spokesperson of the state-owned oil company in a Facebook post on Saturday after 20 months in the role, citing the need to focus on his family and personal life.

“I wish to inform you that I have stepped aside from my role as Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd,” Mr Soneye said. “This decision will allow me to devote more time to my family and attend to personal responsibilities that now require my closer presence.”

Speaking to The Whistler regarding the tenure for Mr Sonoye, Maureen Chigbo and Eze Anaba, the presidents of the GOCOP and GOE, respectively, hailed the seasoned journalist for being “open, capable, and accessible” with his position.

“Soneye was open,” Mr Anaba said. “This gave him the edge to win several communications awards from different newspapers. He was open. He was capable. I judge PR people based on two criteria.”

He added, “One, his relationship with his principal, Femi, passed that test. Two, is he accessible or friendly with the public? I will say yes, 100 per cent.  On these two, he did well. He was a brilliant spokesperson, no doubt about it.”

Meanwhile, Ms Chigbo praised Mr Soneye for managing affairs of the NNPC professionally, noting he portrayed the image of the oil company positively. 

“I will say that during his tenure, Femi was able to showcase NNPC in a good light. He made NNPC more acceptable to the public,” Ms Chigbo said. “He managed the image of the NNPCL professionally with his effective communication skills, and the good public image he built for the company earned him two prominent awards from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.”

She added, “He had good and solid relations with the media industry, especially the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers. It is hoped that whoever succeeds him will continue from where he stopped to enhance the image of the NNPCL.”