President Bola Tinubu has removed Mele Kyari as the group chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and dissolved its board.
The decision, effective April 2, 2025, was announced in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, early Wednesday.
The President has tasked the new leadership with ramping up NNPC’s crude oil refining capacity, setting a target of 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and an ambitious 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
According to a statement from Onanuga, the new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
He added that Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa 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, Northwest, Yusuf Usman, Northeast, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas(NLNG), who represents North Central,” Onanuga stated.
He further explained that President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the Southwest, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the Southeast.
Onanuga said, “Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.”
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.
Onanuga stated that the President 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.
He said, “Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector.
“The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion 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.
“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 2030.”
