President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure and Group Chief Executive Officer Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, along with all other board members appointed alongside them in November 2023.
The newly appointed 11-member board is now led by Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the Non-Executive Chairman.
According to a press statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Adedapo Segun—who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as Chief Financial Officer last November—has been retained as a board member.
The six non-executive directors representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones are:
North West: Bello Rabiu
North East: Yusuf Usman
North Central: Babs Omotowa (former Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG)
South-South: Austin Avuru
South West: David Ige
South East: Henry Obih
Additionally, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The appointments take effect immediately, as of April 2, 2025.
Strategic Mandate for the New Board
Exercising his authority under Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act (2021), President Tinubu underscored that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, driving economic growth, boosting local content, and advancing gas commercialization and diversification.
The President tasked the new board with an immediate strategic review of NNPC’s operated and joint venture assets to ensure alignment with value-maximization objectives.
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has pursued reforms to attract investment in the oil sector. 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.
Tinubu’s administration has also set ambitious production targets:
Crude oil output: 2 million barrels per day by 2027, rising to 3 million by 2030.
Gas production: 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027, increasing to 10 billion by 2030.
NNPC’s share of refined crude output: 200,000 barrels daily by 2027, reaching 500,000 by 2030.
Profiles of Key Appointees
Ahmadu Musa Kida (Board Chairman)
Ahmadu Musa Kida, from Borno State, is a civil engineering graduate from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He later obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP) in Paris.
Kida started his career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before joining Total Exploration and Production in 1985 as a trainee engineer. He rose through the ranks, becoming Deputy Managing Director of Total Nigeria’s Deep Water Services in 2015. In 2024, he was appointed an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.
Beyond the oil industry, Kida is a former basketball player and currently serves as the President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Bashir Bayo Ojulari (Group CEO, NNPC Limited)
Ojulari, from Kwara State, holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University. He began his career as a process engineer at Elf Aquitaine and later joined Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1991 as an associate production technologist.
With extensive experience in Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East, Ojulari has held roles in petroleum process engineering, production, strategic planning, and asset management. In 2015, he was appointed Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO). Before his latest appointment, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, where he played a key role in a $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) by a consortium of indigenous firms.
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Ojulari has served as chairman and board member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
However, President Tinubu expressed gratitude to the outgoing board members for their dedicated service, particularly in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled the resumption of petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavors.
