President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari, along with other board members appointed in November 2023.
In their place, Tinubu appointed an 11-member board led by Ahmadu Musa Kida as the non-executive chairman and Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group CEO.
Also joining the board is Adedapo Segun, who was appointed as NNPC’s Chief Financial Officer last November and has now been retained as a board member.
The newly constituted board features six non-executive directors representing the country’s geopolitical zones. They include Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (North East), and Babs Omotowa (North Central), a former managing director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG). Others are Austin Avuru (South-South), David Ige (South-West), and Henry Obih (South-East).
Additionally, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
According to a statement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the appointments take effect immediately.
President Tinubu, invoking Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasized that the reconstitution of the board aims to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, strengthen local content, and drive economic growth.
The president also tasked the new board with conducting a strategic portfolio review of NNPC’s operated and joint venture assets to align with the administration’s value-maximization objectives.
Since taking office in 2023, Tinubu’s administration has pursued major reforms in the oil sector to attract investment. Last year, NNPC secured $17 billion in new investments, with the government aiming to increase this to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
The administration also targets increasing crude oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million by 2030, while gas production is projected to rise to eight billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
Tinubu also expects the new board to boost NNPC’s refining output to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Kida, an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, holds a degree in civil engineering and a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris. He began his career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before joining Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.
He rose through the ranks, serving as Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. In 2024, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group. Outside the oil industry, Kida is a former basketball player and served as the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Ojulari, from Kwara State, previously served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His company recently led a consortium that acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) in a landmark $2.4 billion deal.
A graduate of mechanical engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Ojulari began his career at Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer before joining Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria in 1991. Over the years, he held various positions in Europe and the Middle East, including roles as a strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
Ojulari is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and has served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigerian Council.
President Tinubu expressed gratitude to the outgoing board members for their contributions, particularly in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which resumed petroleum production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them success in their future endeavors.
The NNPC Limited board reshuffle is seen as a key move in Tinubu’s broader economic strategy to reposition Nigeria’s oil and gas sector for growth and increased global competitiveness.
