President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has overhauled the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, dismissing Chairman Pius Akinyelure and Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari, along with all board members appointed in November 2023. In a major shake-up, Tinubu appointed an 11-man board with Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as Non-Executive Chairman. The President also retained Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as Chief Financial Officer last November, in the new board structure.
The newly appointed board features six non-executive directors representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones: Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (North East), Babs Omotowa (North Central), Austin Avuru (South-South), David Ige (South West), and Henry Obih (South East). Additionally, Lydia Shehu Jafiya will represent the Federal Ministry of Finance, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. The appointments take effect immediately from April 2, 2025.
Exercising his powers under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, Tinubu has given the new board an urgent mandate to boost efficiency, restore investor confidence, and drive gas commercialisation. Key targets include securing $30 billion in oil sector investments by 2027, raising crude production to 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and 3 million by 2030, increasing gas output to 8 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 10 billion by 2030, and enhancing NNPC’s crude refining capacity to 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the new Chairman, is an oil industry veteran from Borno State with decades of experience at Total Nigeria, where he rose to Deputy MD of Deepwater Services. A former basketballer, he also led the Nigerian Basketball Federation. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the new Group CEO, hails from Kwara State and was previously Executive Vice President of Renaissance Africa Energy. He played a key role in leading a consortium that acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for $2.4 billion.
President Tinubu thanked the outgoing board members for their contributions, particularly their efforts in reviving the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. He wished them well in their future endeavors, as the newly constituted board takes on the challenge of transforming Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
