President Bola Tinubu has approved the reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the Chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari.
In a statement issued early Wednesday, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), announced that President Tinubu had removed all previous board members appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
Engineer Bashir Ojulari, who is the group CEO, leads the newly appointed 11-member board, with Ahmadu Kida serving as Non-Executive Chairman.
Adedapo Segun, who succeeded Umaru Ajiya as the Chief Financial Officer in November 2023, has also been appointed to the new board. The board includes six non-executive directors representing various geopolitical zones of Nigeria. These are: Bello Rabiu from the North West, Yusuf Usman from the North East, and Babs Omotowa, the former MD of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), representing the North Central. Austin Avuru has been appointed as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige from the South-West, and Henry Obih from the South-East. Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry, while Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
All appointments take effect from April 2, 2025.
President Tinubu, utilizing powers granted under Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasized the restructuring of the board as essential to improving operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, and driving economic growth, particularly in gas commercialization and diversification.
The President has also tasked the new board with immediately conducting a strategic review of NNPC’s operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure they align with value maximization objectives.
Since taking office, the Tinubu administration has undertaken oil sector reforms aimed at attracting investment, with NNPC reporting $17 billion in new sector investments last year. The administration aims to increase investments to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030. Additionally, the government plans to raise oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million by 2030, while gas production targets are set to reach 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion by 2030. The President also aims to increase NNPC’s crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 by 2030.
Ahmadu Kida, the new board chairman, hails from Borno State and holds degrees in civil engineering and petroleum engineering. His career in the oil industry began with Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later with Total Exploration and Production, where he became Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. He is also a former basketballer and President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation.
Engineer Bashir Ojulari, the new Group CEO, is from Kwara State and was previously the Executive Vice President and COO at Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His company led a consortium that acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company’s equity holdings in Nigeria for $2.4 billion. Ojulari’s career in the oil sector spans several global companies, including Elf Aquitaine and Shell, where he served as Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) in 2015.
President Tinubu thanked the former board members for their dedicated service, especially their efforts in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which have since resumed petroleum product production after extended shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavors.
