In a sweeping shake-up of Nigeria’s oil sector, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dismissed the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, including its Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari, and Board Chairman, Pius Akinyelure.
The decision was announced in the early hours of Wednesday by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga via a statement on the social media platform X.
“President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023,” Onanuga stated.
Kyari, who was initially appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, had been reappointed by Tinubu in 2023 before this latest development.
Following the dismissal, the president has constituted a new 11-member board to oversee the affairs of NNPC Limited.
The newly appointed board will be led by Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the Non-Executive Chairman.
Adedapo Segun, who assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer last November, has been retained on the new board. Additionally, six non-executive directors representing the country’s geopolitical zones have been appointed:
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Bello Rabiu (North West)
Yusuf Usman (North East)
Babs Omotowa (North Central, former MD of 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 serve as the ministry’s representative on the board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
President Tinubu, invoking the powers vested in him under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act (2021), emphasized that the board’s reconstitution aims to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, promote local content, and drive economic growth.
Furthermore, the new board has been directed to conduct an immediate strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and joint venture assets to align with value maximization objectives.
All appointments are effective immediately, marking a new phase in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector under Tinubu’s administration.