NEWSIE EVENTS
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a major shake-up of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, replacing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.
All other board members appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023 have also been removed.
The newly constituted 11-member board will be led by Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the GCEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the non-executive chairman.
Additionally, Adedapo Segun, who took over as chief financial officer last November, has been retained on the new board.
Representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones as non-executive directors are:
Bello Rabiu (North West)
Yusuf Usman (North East)
Babs Omotowa (North Central) – Former Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)
Austin Avuru (South-South)
David Ige (South West)
Henry Obih (South East)
Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry, while Aminu Said Ahmed will serve as the representative for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The appointments take effect immediately, starting April 2.
President Tinubu, invoking Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (2021), stated that the restructuring aims to improve operational efficiency, attract investment, boost local content, and advance gas commercialisation and economic diversification.
He also directed the new board to undertake an immediate strategic review of NNPC-operated and joint venture assets to maximise value.
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has introduced reforms to revitalise the oil sector, securing $17 billion in new investments. The government now aims to raise this figure to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
Additionally, the administration has set ambitious production targets:
Oil Production: 2 million barrels per day by 2027, 3 million by 2030
Gas Production: 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027, 10 billion by 2030
Furthermore, President Tinubu has set a target for the new NNPC board to increase the company’s crude oil refining capacity to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and reach 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Profile of the New NNPC Leadership
Ahmadu Musa Kida – Non-Executive Chairman
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the newly appointed chairman of the NNPC board, hails from Borno State.
He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1984 with a degree in civil engineering and later earned a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP) in Paris.
Kida began his oil industry career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before joining Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.
Over the years, he rose through the ranks, becoming Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015.
In 2023, he was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
Beyond his professional achievements in the oil and gas sector, Kida has a notable background in sports. He is a former basketball player and currently serves as the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Bashir Bayo Ojulari – Group CEO
The new NNPC Limited Group CEO, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, is from Kwara State. Before his appointment, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
Under his leadership, Renaissance spearheaded a historic $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), marking a significant milestone for indigenous energy firms.
Ojulari, like Kida, is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a degree in mechanical engineering.
His career began at Elf Aquitaine, where he became the company’s first Nigerian process engineer. In 1991, he moved to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd as an associate production technologist.
Over the years, Ojulari has held key positions in Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East, specializing in petroleum processing, production engineering, strategic planning, field development, and asset management.
In 2015, he was appointed Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
Ojulari is also a respected figure in the engineering and petroleum sectors.
He has served as chairman and board trustee of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
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