Onoja Baba, Nigeria
Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has approved a major restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, removing Chief Pius Akinyelure as chairman and Mallam Mele Kyari as group chief executive officer, along with other board members.
In a statement on Wednesday, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, said the decision was aimed at enhancing efficiency, boosting investor confidence, and accelerating growth in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The reconstitution affects all board members appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
Under the new structure, Ahmadu Musa Kida has been appointed as non-executive chairman, while Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari will serve as the new group chief executive officer.
President Tinubu has also appointed Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as chief financial officer in November 2023, to the new board.
Other non-executive directors have been drawn from Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources also represented.
The president, invoking the powers granted under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, emphasized that the new leadership must focus on improving local content, expanding gas commercialization, and increasing crude oil refining capacity.
He tasked the board with reviewing NNPC’s joint venture assets to ensure maximum value.
The administration has set ambitious targets, including increasing oil production, raising gas output, and significantly boosting domestic refining capacity in the coming years.
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the new board chairman, is a civil engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He holds a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol in Paris.
He previously worked at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before joining Total Exploration and Production, where he rose to become Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services.
Aside from his professional career, he is also a former basketball player and president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation.
Ojulari, the new group CEO, is from Kwara State and was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
His firm recently led a $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria.
He began his career at Elf Aquitaine and later worked for Shell in Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East, holding various leadership roles in petroleum engineering, asset management, and strategic planning.
President Tinubu thanked the outgoing board members for their service, particularly their contributions to reviving the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
He wished them success in their future endeavors. The new appointments take immediate effect from April 2, 2025.
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