In a major reshuffle of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) board, President Bola Tinubu has dismissed Chairman Pius Akinyelure and Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari.
As part of the changes, Tinubu has appointed Bashir Ojulari as the new CEO, effective from April 2, 2025. This development was revealed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement issued early on Wednesday titled, ‘President Tinubu Reconstitutes NNPC Limited Board, Appoints New Chairman and Group CEO.’
According to the statement, all board members who were appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023 have also been removed. The newly reconstituted 11-member board will now have Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the non-executive chairman.
Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Ajiya as the CFO in November 2024, has also been appointed to the new board. Six non-executive directors, representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, were also named to the board: Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (North East), and Babs Omotowa (North Central), along with 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 of Finance, while Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The appointments, effective from April 2, 2025, were made under the powers granted to the President by Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021. The President emphasized that this restructuring is essential to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, promote local content, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialization and diversification.
Tinubu has also outlined an immediate action plan for the new board to review NNPC’s operated and Joint Venture assets to ensure alignment with value maximization objectives.
Since the start of Tinubu’s administration in 2023, significant reforms have been made in the oil sector. In 2024, NNPC secured $17 billion in new investments, with plans to increase this to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030. Additionally, the administration targets increasing oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027, with a further goal of three million by 2030. Similarly, the government aims to raise gas production to 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027, and 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.
The President also expects the new board to elevate 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 Kida, the new board chairman, is a civil engineer with a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering. He has a long career in the oil industry, having worked at Elf Petroleum Nigeria, Total Exploration, and later Total Nigeria as Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services. He is also a former president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation and currently serves as an independent director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
Bashir Ojulari, the new Group CEO, hails from Kwara State. He was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Renaissance Africa Energy Company, which recently led a consortium in the $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell’s operations in Nigeria. Ojulari has worked for Shell, Elf Aquitaine, and in various international capacities, including roles in Europe and the Middle East.
In conclusion, President Tinubu expressed his gratitude to the outgoing board members for their service, especially for their efforts in reviving the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which resumed production after long shutdowns.
