President Bola Tinubu has removed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited NNPCL board chairman, Pius Akinyelure and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari.
Consequently, the President appointed Bashir Ojulari as the new CEO, effective from April 2, 2025.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed the development in a statement he signed in the early hours of Wednesday.
“President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
“The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman,” the statement reads.
Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board.
Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones.
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They are Bello Rabiu representing the North West, Yusuf Usman representing the North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas, who represents North Central.
“President Tinubu also appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.
“Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources,” Onanuga stated.
All the appointments are effective today, April 2.
President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasised that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.
He also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board “to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.”
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms.
Onanuga said that in 2024, NNPC reported $17bn in new investments within the sector.
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“The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30bn by 2027 and $60bn by 2030.
“The Tinubu administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030.
“Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030,” he explained.
Furthermore, he said the President expects the new board to “elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.”