By Davide Ghilotti and Iain Esau
Nigeria’s government has ousted the chief executive and chairman of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), a corporation currentl
Tinubu said the board changes are “crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification,” according to a statement on X.
The government intends to task the new board to carry out a strategic portfolio review of all of NNPC’s assets “to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives”.
Six board members, all non-executive directors, represent Nigeria’s geopolitical areas.
These include Austin Avuru from South-South; David Ige from South West; and Henry Obih from South East.
Tinubu has also appointed Babs Omotowa — a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas — from North Central; Bello Rabiu from North West; and Yusuf Usman from North East.
Veteran oilman Avuru was director of Platform Petroleum and in 2010 co-founded Seplat, retiring as chief executive in 2020 after it had been listed in London and Lagos.
He now runs AA Holdings, an investment company with holdings in both Platform and Seplat.
Ige is a former group executive director of NNPC and has been heavily involved in developing Nigeria’s Gas Master Plan. Since 2015, he has been chief executive of GasInvest, a business he founded to enable clients to “navigate the complex investment landscape in the growing Nigerian gas sector.”
y being readied for an initial public offering (IPO).
NNPC chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure and group chief executive Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari have both been removed from their roles, according to a statement published on X by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s adviser, Bayo Onanuga.
By the same order, the entire NNPC board has also been removed, with a new 11-people board appointed, led by Bashir Bayo Ojulari as group chief executive and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
Ojulari, from Kwara State, had until now held the role of chief operating officer at Renaissance Africa Energy Company, and was previously managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company (SNEPCO) from 2015 to 2021.
Kida, from Borno State, was non-executive director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group, and in 2015 was appointed Total Nigeria’s deputy managing director of deep water services.
Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as chief financial officer last November, has also been appointed to the new board.
Rabiu, before his new role as founder and chief executive of Dankiri Farms & Commodities, spent 28 years with NNPC, retiring in 2019 as chief operating officer and group executive director of upstream. He is also on Seplat’s board.
Other board members include Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Aminu Said Ahmed from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
Clementine Wallop, director of Sub-Saharan Africa for Horizon Engage, a research and advisory firm focused on political risk, described the new board as “exceptionally talented… especially if you’re looking at gas and/or deep water,” adding that fresh blood is needed for NNPC to pursue an IPO.
“It’s relevant, if you think about NNPC shaping up for an IPO, that they would make this shift towards private sector talent and away from NNPC lifers.”
Wallop noted in a LinkedIn post that there will be “pushback” against the fact there NNPC’s chief executive and chief financial officer are from the Yoruba ethnic group.
However, she suggested that this unease could be tempered “to some extent” by Tinubu removing his “close friend” Pius Akinyelure as chair and replacing him with Kida, a northerner.