In a significant move aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, President Bola Tinubu has announced a comprehensive reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited) board. This strategic overhaul includes the removal of Chairman Pius Akinyelure and Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari, and the appointment of Bashir Ojulari as the new CEO, effective April 2, 2025.
A statement released by President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the restructuring, emphasising the administration’s commitment to enhancing operational efficiency and attracting investment. “President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023,” Onanuga stated. “The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.”
The new board also includes Adedapo Segun as Chief Financial Officer, alongside six non-executive directors representing the nation’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). Representatives from the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Lydia Shehu Jafiya and Aminu Ahmed, respectively, will also serve on the board.
“President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, 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,” the statement stated.
He also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board “to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.”
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms.
Onanuga said that in 2024, NNPC reported $17bn in new investments within the sector.
“The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30bn by 2027 and $60bn 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,” he explained.
Furthermore, he said the President 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 2030,” the Statement read in part.
The new board chairman, Ahmadu Kida, is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984.
Kida also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol in Paris. He began his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.
Musa became Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. In 2024, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
The Presidency stated that apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Kida is a former basketballer and the President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation board.
Meanwhile, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, Ojulari, hails from Kwara State.
Until his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
His Renaissance 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, worth $2.4bn.
Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, having 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, Ojulari 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, Ojulari became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.
During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
President Tinubu expressed gratitude to the outgoing board members for their service, particularly acknowledging their efforts in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. He wished them well in their future endeavors. This strategic restructuring signals the administration’s commitment to driving efficiency, attracting investment, and achieving ambitious growth targets in Nigeria’s crucial oil and gas sector.
