President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, marking a significant reshuffling in the leadership of the national oil company.
In a statement by the Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy as part of this restructuring, the President has removed the board’s chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, alongside all other board members appointed in November 2023 under their leadership.
The Standard Gazette reports that In their place, a new 11-member board has been appointed. Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari will serve as the new Group CEO, while Ahmadu Musa Kida has been appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman.
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Adedapo Segun, who assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer in November 2023, has also been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.
The new board features six non-executive directors representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, ensuring a diverse and inclusive leadership structure. The appointees are:
Bello Rabiu (North West),
Yusuf Usman (North East),
Babs Omotowa, former Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), representing the North Central,
Austin Avuru (South-South),
David Ige (South West),
Henry Obih (South East).
Additionally, Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the Ministry on the board. In contrast, Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
All appointments are effective as of today, April 2, 2025
President Tinubu, acting under the powers granted by Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasized that the restructured board is critical for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, and driving economic growth through increased gas commercialization and diversification.
The new board has been tasked with an immediate action plan, including conducting a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to align with the broader goal of value maximization.
The President’s administration has already initiated comprehensive reforms in the oil sector since 2023, which have resulted in $17 billion in new investments. The administration aims to increase this to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
Additionally, the government aims to raise oil production to 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and 3 million barrels per day by 2030. Natural gas production is also set for expansion, with targets of 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.
Further, the Tinubu administration envisions increasing NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the newly appointed Non-Executive Chairman, hails from Borno State. A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he 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 in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production.
In 2015, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services at Total Nigeria. Kida is also a former president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the new Group CEO, is from Kwara State. Before his appointment, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. Ojulari, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, began his career as a process engineer at Elf Aquitaine and later joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria.
He has held key roles at Shell and was previously the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
Ojulari is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and has served on various industry boards, including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigerian Council.
President Tinubu also expressed his gratitude to the outgoing board members for their dedication, especially their role in the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which have resumed production of petroleum products after extended periods of shutdown. The President wished them success in their future endeavours.
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