By Ayomide Otitoju
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a major restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, dismissing Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure and Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, along with all other board members appointed in November 2023.
The newly constituted 11-member board will be led by Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the Non-Executive Chairman. Additionally, Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as Chief Financial Officer last November, has been confirmed as a board member.
Representing the country’s geopolitical zones as non-executive directors are:
Bello Rabiu (North West)
Yusuf Usman (North East)
Babs Omotowa, former Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) (North Central)
Austin Avuru (South-South)
David Ige (South West)
Henry Obih (South East)
Other key appointments include Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, as the ministry’s representative, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. All appointments take effect immediately.
Mandate for the New Board
President Tinubu, exercising his authority under Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, emphasized that the restructuring aims to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialization and diversification.
As part of their immediate responsibilities, the new board is tasked with conducting a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximization objectives.
Oil Sector Reforms and Targets
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has focused on oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC secured $17 billion in new investments. The administration aims to increase this figure to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
The government has set ambitious production targets, seeking to raise crude oil output to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million barrels per day by 2030. Similarly, gas production is expected to reach eight billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
Furthermore, the administration expects NNPC to enhance its crude oil refining capacity to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, with a target of 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Profile of the New Board Chairman
Ahmadu Musa Kida, the newly appointed board chairman, hails from Borno State. He holds a degree in civil engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, obtained in 1984, and a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris.
Kida began his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before joining Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985. He later rose to become Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services at Total Nigeria in 2015. In 2023, he was appointed an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
The reconstitution of the NNPC board marks a significant step in Tinubu’s broader efforts to reform Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, ensuring it remains a cornerstone of economic growth and energy security.
