President Bola Tinubu has carried out a comprehensive reshuffle within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s leadership team. This includes removing both Chairman Pius Akinyelure and Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari from their positions.

As a result, the President named Bashir Ojulari as the new CEO, with this appointment taking effect on April 2, 2025.

Bayo Onanuga, who serves as the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy for Tinubu, disclosed this information in a statement released shortly after midnight on Wednesday. The title of the statement reads, ‘President Tinubu Reorganizes NNPC Limited Board, Names New Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer.’

President Tinubu dismissed all the board members who were appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

“The newly appointed 11-member board includes Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the non-executive chairman,” according to the statement.

Adedapo Segun, who took over from Umaru Ajiya as chief financial officer in November, has now joined the newly formed board.

The six board members, who serve as non-executive directors, represent the nation’s geopolitical regions.

Bello Rabiu is representing the Northwest, Yusuf Usman is representing the Northeast, and Babs Omotowa, ex-managing director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, is representing the North Central.

President Tinubu has named Austin Avuru as a non-executive director representing the South-South region, David Ige as a non-executive director hailing from the South-West region, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director originating from the South-East region.

“Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, who serves as the permanent secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent her ministry on the new board, whereas Aminu Ahmed will be representing the Ministry of Petroleum Resources,” Onanuga declared.

Every appointment is effective as of today, April 2.

President Tinubu highlighted, using the authority provided by Section 59, paragraph 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act from 2021, that reshaping the board is essential for improving operational effectiveness, revitalizing investor trust, increasing local participation, stimulating economic expansion, and promoting gas commerce and variety.

He provided the newly formed board with an instant action plan “aimed at conducting a strategic assessment of assets operated by NNPC and joint ventures to guarantee they align with goals for maximizing value.”

Starting from 2023, the Tinubu government has introduced changes in the oil industry.

Onanuga stated that in 2024, NNPC announced $17 billion in fresh investments within the industry.

The administration currently anticipates boosting the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and doubling it to $60 billion by 2030.

The Tinubu administration aims to increase oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and to three million barrels per day by 2030.

“He explained that simultaneously, the government aims to increase gas production to 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and up to 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.”

Moreover, he stated that the President anticipates the newly appointed board will aim to increase NNPC’s contribution to Nigeria’s crude oil refining capacity to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and achieve 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.

The newly appointed chairperson of the board, Ahmadu Kida, hails from Borno State. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria in 1984.

Kida additionally earned a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol in Paris.

He started his professional journey in the petroleum sector with Elf Petroleum Nigeria before moving on to join Total Exploration and Production as an engineering trainee in 1985.

In 2015, Musa took on the role of Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services at Total Nigeria.

In 2024, he took up the role of an Independent Non-Executable Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.

The presidency mentioned that aside from his career in the oil industry, Ahmadu Kida is also a former basketball player and serves as the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation board.

At the same time, the newly appointed Group CEO of NNPC Limited, Ojulari, comes from Kwara State.

Before his recent appointment, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Renaissance Africa Energy Company.

His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, worth $2.4bn.

Similar to Kida, Ojulari is likewise an alumna of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where she earned her degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He began his notable career in the oil industry as Nigeria’s inaugural process engineer at Elf Aquitaine.

In 1991, Ojulari became part of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, starting his career there as an associate production technologist.

In addition to his work in Nigeria, he also served in various roles such as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager across Europe and the Middle East.

In 2015, Ojulari took on the role of managing director at Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.

Throughout his career, he served as both the chairperson and a trustee for the SPE Nigerian Council within the Society of Petroleum Engineers and held fellowship status with the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu expressed his gratitude to the former board members of NNPC Limited for their committed service, highlighting their work in reviving the outdated Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. This restoration allowed these facilities to restart the production of petroleum products following extended periods of downtime.

The statement ended with ‘He hoped they would fare well in their future pursuits,’.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc.
Syndigate.info
).