PRESIDENT TINUBU RECONSTITUTES NNPC LIMITED BOARD, SACKS KYARI AS CEO.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a major reorganisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, dismissing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the group CEO, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.

In November 2023, President Tinubu withdrew all other board members appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari, according to a statement from presidential spokesman Bayo Onanauga.

Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari is the Group CEO on the new 11-member board, while Ahmadu Musa Kida serves as non-executive chairman.

President Tinubu has appointed Adedapo Segun, who took over as chief financial officer from Umaru Isa Ajiya in November, to the new board.

Six non-executive directors serve on the board and represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu from North West, Yusuf Usman from North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG), from North Central.

President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a non-executive director from the Southwest, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the Southeast.

Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Mr Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

All appointments are effective today, April 2.

Invoking the powers granted by Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, President Tinubu stated that the board’s restructuring is critical for improving operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, increasing local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.

President Tinubu also gave the new board an immediate action plan: conduct a strategic portfolio assessment of NNPC-operated and joint venture assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation goals.

Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil-sector reforms to encourage investment. Last year, NNPC announced $17 billion in additional investments in the sector. The administration now plans to increase the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

The Tinubu administration aims to increase oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million per day by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas output increased to 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to increase the NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and 500,000 by 2030.

Ahmadu Musa Kida, the new board chairman, hails from Borno state. He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria and graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also received a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Française du Petrol (IFP) in Paris.

He began his career in the oil sector with Elf Petroleum Nigeria before joining Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.

Musa joined Total Nigeria as Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director of Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.

Aside from his oil sector job, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketball player and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation’s (NBBF) board.

Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, is from Kwara State. He formerly served as Renaissance Africa Energy Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. His Renaissance recently led a group of indigenous energy corporations in the historic acquisition of the full equity ownership in Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) for $2.4 billion.

Ojulari, like Kida, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He was the first Nigerian process engineer to launch a successful career in the oil industry, working for Elf Aquitaine. In 1991, he began working as an associate production scientist with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd after leaving Elf.

Aside from Nigeria, he has worked in Europe and the Middle East in various capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he was appointed managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.

Throughout his career, he served as chairman and trustee of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council), as well as a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu praised the former board members for their outstanding service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts to rehabilitate the ageing Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, allowing them to resume petroleum product production after lengthy shutdowns. He wished them success in their future undertakings.