By Salif Atojoko
President Bola Tinubu has approved the removal of Chief Pius Akinyelure, the chairman of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. and Malam Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer.
Kyari was replaced by Mr Bashir Ojulari as Group CEO and Akinyelure was replaced by Mr Ahmadu Kida as non-executive chairman, Mr Bayo Onanuga, his spokesman, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tinubu also removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
Mr Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board.
Six board members, non-executive directors, representing the country’s geopolitical zones are: Bello Rabiu, North West; Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG), who represents North Central.
Tinubu also appointed Mr Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.
Mrs Lydia Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The President invoked the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, adding that all the appointments were with immediate effect.
He said that the board’s restructuring was crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, and restoring investor confidence.
Tinubu added that it would also boost local content, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialisation and diversification.
The President handed out an immediate action plan to the new board; to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets.
He said this would ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported 17 billion dollars in new investments within the sector.
“The administration now envisions increasing the investment to 30 billion dollars by 2027 and 60 billion dollars 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.”
Tinubu charged 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 new board chairman, Kida, from Borno, 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.
Kida 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, Kida is a former basketballer and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) board.
Ojulari, the new NNPC Ltd. Group CEO, hails from Kwara.
Until his new appointment, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
Renaissance Africa Energy Company 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 dollars.
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).
Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Ltd.
He commended them for their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, and wished them well in their future endeavours.
(NAN)
