President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dissolved the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) board, removing Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari and board chairman Pius Akinyelure. The announcement was made by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga via X on Wednesday, with the changes taking effect immediately.
Ahmadu Musa Kida has been appointed as the new NNPCL board chairman. An alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he earned a degree in civil engineering before obtaining a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol in Paris. Kida started his oil industry career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before moving to Total Exploration and Production, where he became Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. He also served as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group and is known for his leadership in Nigerian basketball.
Bashir Ojulari, the new Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, hails from Kwara State and was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. He played a key role in the $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). Ojulari, also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, began his career as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine before joining Shell in 1991. He later became the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) in 2015 and held leadership roles in the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
The restructuring signals a significant shift in Nigeria’s petroleum sector under Tinubu’s administration.
Source: Swifteradio.com
