President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reconstituted the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, sacking its chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the group chief executive officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, along with all other board members appointed in November 2023.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu announced the appointment of an 11-man board to lead the state-owned oil corporation. Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari has been named as the new Group CEO, while Ahmadu Musa Kida takes over as the non-executive chairman.
Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as chief financial officer last year, retains his role on the new board. The board also includes six non-executive directors representing the country’s geopolitical zones: Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (North East), Babs Omotowa (North Central), Austin Avuru (South-South), David Ige (South West), and Henry Obih (South East).
Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Aminu Said Ahmed, representing the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, complete the board composition. All appointments take effect immediately.
President Tinubu cited Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, as the legal basis for the changes, emphasizing that the shake-up aims to enhance efficiency, restore investor confidence, drive economic growth, and accelerate gas commercialization and diversification.
The president has also tasked the new board with conducting a strategic review of NNPC’s operated and joint venture assets to maximize value. His administration, which has been pushing oil sector reforms since 2023, aims to increase investment in the sector from $17 billion last year to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030. The government also targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million by 2030, while ramping up gas output to 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
Furthermore, the new board is expected to boost NNPC’s refining capacity to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 barrels by 2030.
The new chairman, Ahmadu Musa Kida, hails from Borno State and holds a degree in civil engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He has a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris. Kida previously worked with Elf Petroleum and Total Exploration, rising to become Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015.
Ojulari, the new Group CEO, is from Kwara State and was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His firm led a $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). He is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University and has worked in various leadership roles at Shell, including as Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
President Tinubu expressed gratitude to the outgoing board members for their service, particularly their efforts in revamping the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. He wished them success in their future endeavors.
