By Tochukwu Bliss, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu, today, announced the sack of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited Mele Kyari, as well as the removal of the Company’s Chairman, Board of Directors, Pius Akinyelure.
The President also announced the replacement of Mr Kyari by Kwara State-born, Bashir Ojulari, a former Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).as the new GCEO, while Borno State-born, Ahmadu Kida, a former Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, Total Energies, Nigeria, replaces Mr Akinyelure as the Board Chairman.
A statement by the President’s Spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, also announced the reconstitution of the entire NNPCL Board, whose members were appointed in November 2023.
Accordingly, Adedapo Segun replaces Umaru Ajiya as the Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO).
Among the new 11-man board are six non-executive directors, representing each of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones. They include:
Bello Rabiu, North West:
Yusuf Usman, North East:
Babs Omotowa, a former Managing Director, Nigerian LNG Limited (NLNG), North Central:
Austin Avuru, a former Managing Director of Seplat Energy Plc, South-South:
David Ige, a former NNPC Executive Director, Gas, South West; and,
Henry Obih, representing the South East.
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.
Other appointees are Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, represents the Ministry on the new board, while Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
All the appointments are effective today, April 2.
The statement added that Mr. 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 equally “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.”
