NNPCL Gets New Boss, Bashir Ojulari

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, removing the 11-man board led by non-Executive Chairman, Pius Akinyelure and Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari as the Group CEO.

The President, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, announced the reconstitution of the NNPCL and removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

The new 11-man board now has Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman and Adedapo Segun as a new board member.

The statement says Mr Segun replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November.

According to the statement, the six board members appointed to serve in non-executive directors capacity, 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.

Others are 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.

The statement also says that the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, is to represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

It says President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled them to resume petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns.

Invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021,  the President 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.

President Tinubu also directed the new board to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.

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.

Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2023.

PR Bughni Alfred