In a decisive move, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, effective immediately, replacing Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure, Group Chief Executive Officer Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, and all other board members appointed in November 2023.
The announcement, made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, marks a significant shift for Nigeria’s state-owned oil giant, which has faced persistent accusations of malfeasance, underperformance, and financial inefficiency.
The overhaul introduces Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman, alongside a new 11-member board tasked with reversing decades of criticism and meeting ambitious sectoral goals.
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The reconstituted board includes Adedapo Segun, who assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer in November 2024, replacing Umaru Isa Ajiya. Representing Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, non-executive directors include Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (North East), and Babs Omotowa, a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), for North Central. From the southern zones, Austin Avuru (South-South), David Ige (South West), and Henry Obih (South East) join the board. Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Aminu Said Ahmed, representing the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, round out the lineup.
Exercising his powers under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, President Tinubu underscored that the restructuring aims to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boost local content, and drive economic growth through gas commercialization and diversification.
For years, the NNPC has been a lightning rod for criticism, with successive boards and management teams accused of mismanagement, corruption, and failing to deliver value despite Nigeria’s status as Africa’s largest oil producer. Calls for its dissolution or radical reform have grown louder, with energy experts and citizens pointing to chronic underperformance.
“For Nigeria to make progress, the President will need to fire the entire executive management and board of NNPC and approve for its unbundling,” energy expert Kelvin Emmanuel argued last month.
He also called for overhauls of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), adding, “The oil and gas sector needs a state of emergency more than any Nigerian state.”
Emmanuel’s critique reflects a broader sentiment that the NNPC’s entrenched inefficiencies have stymied national development.
Financially, the NNPC has long struggled to justify its existence as a profit-making entity. Despite billions of naira allocated annually for operational costs, the company reported consistent losses for years. In 2023, the NNPC posted a profit of $1.5 billion, its first significant positive result in years, following reforms under the PIA. However, this figure was widely dismissed as inadequate given Nigeria’s oil wealth.
“Saudi Aramco did $163 billion in profits for 2022. But a clown will come here and tell me that the miserable $1.5 billion NNPC did in profits is commendable! Fire the board and management of NNPC and appoint professionals with cognate experience,” Emmanuel declared last year.
Others have noted that the NNPC’s profits pale in comparison to global peers like Saudi Aramco or even regional players like Angola’s Sonangol, which have leveraged their resources more effectively.
The Tinubu administration has responded to these concerns with a reform agenda since taking office in 2023. Last year, the NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments, a milestone the government hopes to build upon, targeting $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030. Production goals are equally ambitious: oil output is slated to reach two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million by 2030, while gas production is expected to hit 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion by 2030.
To reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products, Tinubu has directed the new board to increase NNPC’s crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 by 2030. An immediate action plan mandates a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture assets to ensure alignment with value maximization objectives.
Tinubu acknowledged the outgoing board’s contributions, particularly their role in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which resumed production after prolonged shutdowns.
“Their dedicated service has laid a foundation for progress, and I wish them success in their future endeavors,” he said.
However, the scale of the challenges ahead—aging infrastructure, Niger Delta insecurity, and global energy transitions—will test the new board’s ability to deliver. Public skepticism remains high, with many Nigerians viewing the NNPC as a symbol of systemic failure. Whether Ojulari, Kida and their team can break from the past and meet the administration’s lofty targets will determine if this overhaul marks a turning point or merely another chapter in the NNPC’s troubled history.