President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the massive reconstruction of the board of directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd., removing Chairman, President Pius Akinyelure and Group CEO Mallam Mele Mele Mele Mele Kolo Kyari.
President Tinubu removed Akinyelure and all other board members appointed by Kyari in November 2023.
The new 11-member board will include engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
Adapo Segun, who replayed Umaru Isa Ajiya as Chief Financial Officer in November last year, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.
Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zone. They are Babs Omotowa, former managing director of Bello Rabiu, Northwest, Yusuf Usman, Northeast and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), representing North North North Central.
President Tinubu has appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director of the South-North South, David Ige as a non-executive director of the Southwest and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the Southeast.
Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on behalf of the new board, while Aminu said Ahmed will represent the ministry of oil resources.
All dates are effective today on April 2.
President Tinubu cited the powers granted by Article 2, Section 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021, stressing that the restructuring of the board is crucial to improve operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, improve local content, drive economic growth and drive economic growth and promote gasoline commercialization and diversification.
President Tinubu also issued an immediate action plan to the new board: a strategic portfolio review of NNPC operations and joint venture assets to ensure alignment with the value maximization goal.
Since 2023, the Tinubu government has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the industry. Now, the government envisions increasing its investment to $30 billion in 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
The Tinubu government aims to increase oil production to 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and 3 million barrels per day by 2030. Meanwhile, the government hopes to reach 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
In addition, President Tinubu expects the new board of directors to increase NNPC’s crude oil refined production share to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and to 500,000 barrels by 2030.
The new chairman Ahmadu Musa Kida is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where he received his degree in civil engineering in 1984.
He began his career in the oil industry of the Little Petroleum Corporation in Nigeria, and later joined the comprehensive exploration and production in 1985 and served as a trainee engineer.
Musa became Deputy Managing Director of Nigeria in 2015. Last year, he became an independent non-executive director of Pan Ocean-Newcross.
Apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketball player and chairman of the board of directors of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Ojulari is the new NNPC Limited Group CEO from Kwara State University. Prior to his new appointment, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Renaissance African Energy Company. His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy companies worth $2.4 billion in the entire equity acquisition of Shell Oil Development Corporation (SPDC) in Nigeria.
Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Zaria’s Ahmadu Bello University. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for Elf Aquitaine and was the first Nigerian process engineer to start a prominent career in the oil field. He set out from Elf and joined the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Co., Ltd. in 1991 as a by-production technology expert.
In addition to working in Nigeria, he also works in Europe and the Middle East, working in different identities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer and asset manager. In 2015, he became Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
During his career, he served as chairman and board member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Council of Nigeria) and a member of the Society of Engineers Nigeria.
President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, especially their efforts to repair the old Harcourt and Warri refineries, which allowed them to resume production of oil products after prolonged closures. He hopes that they will go well with their future efforts.
Its Innuanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information and Strategy)
