April 02, (THEWILL) – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, relieving Mele Kyari of his position as Group Chief Executive Officer and dissolving the board chaired by Chief Pius Akinyelure.
A statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, confirmed the shake-up on Wednesday, noting that all board members appointed alongside Kyari and Akinyelure in November 2023 had been removed.
In their place, Tinubu appointed an 11-member board with Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as Non-Executive Chairman.
The reconstitution, Tinubu stated, was in line with Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, aimed at enhancing efficiency, restoring investor confidence, and driving economic growth through gas commercialization and diversification.
Among the newly appointed board members are Adedapo Segun as Chief Financial Officer, Bello Rabiu as Non-Executive Director representing the North West, Yusuf Usman for the North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, for the North Central.
Others include Austin Avuru as Non-Executive Director from the South-South, David Ige for the South West, and Henry Obih for the South East. Lydia Shehu Jafiya will represent the Federal Ministry of Finance, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. All appointments take effect immediately.
The Tinubu administration has set ambitious targets for the new leadership, including raising oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million barrels per day by 2030. Additionally, gas production is expected to hit eight billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
In the refining sector, the government expects NNPC to increase its share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels daily by 2027 and 500,000 barrels daily by 2030. Tinubu tasked the board with conducting a strategic portfolio review of NNPC’s operated and joint venture assets to ensure value maximization.
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the new board chairman, hails from Borno State and is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He holds a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Français du Pétrole, Paris. Kida started his oil industry career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before rising to become Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services at Total Nigeria in 2015.
He currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
Ojulari, the newly appointed Group CEO, is a seasoned oil and gas professional from Kwara State. Until his appointment, he was Executive Vice President and COO of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, which recently led a $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company.
An alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ojulari began his career at Elf Aquitaine and later joined Shell in 1991, holding various positions across Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East.
President Tinubu expressed gratitude to the outgoing board members for their contributions, particularly their role in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which led to the resumption of petroleum product production after years of inactivity. He wished them success in their future endeavors.
