President Bola Tinubu has approved the reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the Chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari.
In a statement by Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, in the early hours of Wednesday, Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Kida as Non-Executive Chairman.
Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu. six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones.
They 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. President Tinubu appointed 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. Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board.
In contrast, Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
All the appointments are effective from April 2.
President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasized 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 gave the new board an immediate action plan to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.
