NNPC shakeup: Industry technocrats take seat
- Bayo Ojulari rumor turns real at the helms
Sopuruchi Onwuka
President Bola Tinubu has announced sweeping change in the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, throwing out the embattled Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari and empanelling a new board of eminent industry stalwarts to oversee the management of the national oil company.
Whereas Mallam Kyari has overstayed at the helms of the company despite protests and petitions from workers of the company, the new board is composed of unassailable industry technocrats some of whom were rumored in the past as possible replacement for Mala Kyari.
A State House press release by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced Tuesday evening the composition of new board of directors and appointment of new Group CEO for the NNPC Limited.
In the new move President Bola Tinubu approved immediate removal of the Chief Pius Akinyelure and the group chief executive officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari as chairman of the board and Group CEO respectively.
“President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023,” the statement declared, adding that the new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
It added that Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has also been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.
The president also appointed six non-executive directors to represent the country’s geopolitical zones in the new bvoard.
In the new arrangement, Bello Rabiu represents the North West zone of the country; Yusuf Usman sits in for the North East; and Babs Omotowa, a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas( NLNG), also represents the North Central.
Eminent geologist and founding Managing Director at Platform Petroleum and Seplat Energy Plc respectively, Mr Austin Avuru, is now the non-executive director sitting in for the South-South zond; David Ige represents the South West, and Henry Obih sits in for the South East.
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, is to represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed represents the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
“All the appointments are effective today, April 2,” the Presidency declared.
The Oracle Today reports that this would the first time in recent times that government assembled tested industry veterans to run the affairs of the national energy company.
In making the changes, President Tinubu invoked the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasizing that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialization and diversification.
The new board is required to immediately conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximization objectives.
It would be recalled that the Tinubu administration has since 2023 implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment.
“Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion 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.
“Furthermore, President Tinubu 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,” the release stated.
The new board chairman, Ahmadu Musa Kida, is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris.
He started his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.
Musa became Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
Apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketballer and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation(NBBF) board.
Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, hails from Kwara State. Until his new appointment, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.
Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked for Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer to begin a stellar career in the oil sector. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist.
Apart from working in Nigeria, he worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
“President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled them to resume petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavors,” the release stated.
