President Bola Tinubu has approved a major restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) board, removing Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure and Group CEO Mallam Mele Kyari. A statement from Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, confirmed that all board members appointed in November 2023 have been replaced with immediate effect. The newly constituted 11-member board will now be led by Ahmadu Musa Kida as Non-Executive Chairman and Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as Group CEO.
President Tinubu exercised his powers under Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, emphasizing that the restructuring aims to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boost local content participation, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialisation and diversification. The new NNPCL board members include Ahmadu Musa Kida as Non-Executive Chairman, Bashir Bayo Ojulari as Group Chief Executive Officer, and Adedapo Segun as Chief Financial Officer.
Other Non-Executive Directors, representing Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, include Bello Rabiu for the North West, Yusuf Usman for the North East, Babs Omotowa for the North Central, Austin Avuru for the South South, David Ige for the South West, and Henry Obih for the South East. Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya from the Federal Ministry of Finance and Aminu Said Ahmed from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources will also serve as board representatives.
The Tinubu administration has been pushing for oil sector reforms to attract investment. Key targets include increasing investment from $17 billion in 2023 to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030, raising oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million by 2030, boosting gas production to eight billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and ten billion by 2030, and expanding NNPC’s share of crude refining to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 by 2030.
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the new Non-Executive Chairman, hails from Borno State. He holds a degree in civil engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris. He started his career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production, where he rose to become Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. He was most recently an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group. Apart from his extensive oil industry experience, Kida is a former basketball player and President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the newly appointed Group CEO, is from Kwara State. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Ahmadu Bello University and has had an extensive career in the oil and gas sector. He previously worked with Elf Aquitaine, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, and Renaissance Africa Energy Company, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Recently, he led a $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) by a consortium of indigenous energy firms. His expertise spans petroleum engineering, field development, asset management, and strategic planning across Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East.
President Tinubu thanked the outgoing board members for their service, particularly their efforts in reviving the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which have resumed petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them success in their future endeavors. With this bold restructuring, the Tinubu administration aims to transform Nigeria’s oil and gas sector into a globally competitive industry.
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