President Bola Tinubu has approved the reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) board, dismissing its Chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari.

In a statement released early Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu also removed all board members appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

The newly constituted 11-member board will be led by Engineer Bashir Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Kida as the Non-Executive Chairman.

Adedapo Segun, who took over as Chief Financial Officer from Umaru Ajiya in November last year, has also been retained on the new board. The board includes six non-executive directors representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones:

• North West: Bello Rabiu
• North East: Yusuf Usman
• North Central: Babs Omotowa, former Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)
• South-South: Austin Avuru
• South-West: David Ige
• South-East: Henry Obih

Additionally, Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry, while Aminu Ahmed will serve as the representative of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

All appointments take effect from April 2.

President Tinubu, exercising the powers conferred by Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, stated that the board’s restructuring aims to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boost local content, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialisation and diversification.

The President also mandated the new board to undertake an immediate strategic portfolio review of NNPC’s operated and joint venture assets to ensure alignment with value-maximisation goals.

Since assuming office, Tinubu’s administration has introduced a series of oil sector reforms to attract investment. In 2023, NNPCL secured $17 billion in new investments, with projections set to increase to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

The government aims to raise oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million barrels by 2030. Similarly, gas production is targeted to reach eight billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Furthermore, the administration expects the NNPCL to ramp up its crude oil refining capacity to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, with a goal of reaching 500,000 barrels by 2030.

Profiles of Key Appointees

Ahmadu Kida, Board Chairman: A native of Borno State, Kida holds a civil engineering degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1984) and a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Français du Pétrole, Paris. His career spans roles at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and Total Exploration and Production, where he became Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he was appointed an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group. Kida is also a former Nigerian basketball player and past president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.

Bashir Ojulari, Group CEO: Ojulari, from Kwara State, was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His company recently led a consortium of indigenous firms in acquiring Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) for $2.4 billion. A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with a degree in mechanical engineering, he started his career at Elf Aquitaine before joining Shell in 1991. His expertise spans petroleum processing, production engineering, strategic planning, and field development.

President Tinubu thanked the outgoing board members for their service, particularly in the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, and wished them well in their future endeavours.