BREAKING: Tinubu Sacks NNPCL Boss Mele Kyari, Appoints Ojulari As Replacement

Abuja, Nigeria– President Bola Tinubu has dismissed Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and appointed Bashir Bayo Ojulari as his replacement, effective April 2, 2025.

The President also removed Pius Akinyelure as chairman of the NNPCL board, along with all other board members appointed in November 2023.

The restructuring was announced by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement issued in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to Onanuga, the newly constituted 11-member board will be led by Ahmadu Musa Kida as the non-executive chairman, while Adedapo Segun, who took over as chief financial officer in November 2023, has been retained on the new board.

The reconstituted board also includes six non-executive directors representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones: Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (North East), Babs Omotowa (North Central), Austin Avuru (South-South), David Ige (South West), and Henry Obih (South East). Additionally, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the finance ministry, while Aminu Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

President Tinubu, citing powers under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, eemphasised hat the restructuring is aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.

The new board has been tasked with conducting a strategic review of NNPCL’s portfolio, ensuring its joint venture assets align with value maximisation objectives.

Since assuming office in 2023, the Tinubu administration has pursued aggressive reforms in Nigeria’s oil sector.

In 2024, NNPCL secured $17 billion in fresh investments, with the administration aiming to grow this to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

The government has also set ambitious production targets of two million barrels of oil per day by 2027 and three million by 2030, alongside increasing gas output to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion by 2030.

President Tinubu has tasked the newly appointed board with increasing NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.

Ahmadu Kida, the new board chairman, hails from Borno State.

He earned a civil engineering degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1984 and later obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol in Paris.

Kida began his career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria before moving to Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985. By 2015, he had risen to become Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services.

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 has served as the President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation board.

The new NNPC Limited Group CEO, Ojulari, is from Kwara State. Before his appointment, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.

Under his leadership, Renaissance spearheaded the acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria’s entire equity holding in a $2.4 billion deal.

Ojulari, like Kida, is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He started his career as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine before joining Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist.

His career spanned roles across Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East, including positions in petroleum processing, strategic planning, field development, and asset management.

In 2015, he became the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.

He has also served as chairman and trustee board member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu expressed gratitude to the outgoing board members for their contributions, particularly in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, enabling their return to petroleum production after prolonged shutdowns.

He wished them success in their future endeavors.