President Bola Tinubu has removed Mele Kyari as the Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and dissolved its board, effective April 2, 2025.
The President announced the changes in a statement released on Wednesday by his special adviser on information and strategy.
The newly appointed leadership is tasked with increasing NNPC’s crude oil refining capacity, setting ambitious targets of 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.
Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari, formerly of Shell Nigeria, steps in as the new Group CEO. Ahmadu Musa Kida, a veteran of the oil industry, takes the role of non-executive chairman.
Additionally, Adedapo Segun, who joined NNPC as the chief financial officer last November, is now a member of the board.
The 11-member board has been carefully selected to represent various geopolitical zones of Nigeria, with members from the Northwest, Northeast, North Central, South-South, Southwest, and Southeast.
Key appointments include Bello Rabiu from the Northwest, Yusuf Usman from the Northeast, and Babs Omotowa, former managing director of NLNG, representing North Central. Austin Avuru, David Ige, and Henry Obih will represent the South-South, Southwest, and Southeast respectively.
In his statement, Onanuga noted that the restructuring aligns with President Tinubu’s vision to enhance NNPC’s operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, and drive local content development. The new leadership will also focus on gas commercialization and diversification, as well as improving the country’s energy sector.
President Tinubu has given the new board an immediate action plan: to review NNPC’s portfolio and assets in order to maximize value.
The President further set a target to increase oil production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million barrels per day by 2030.
Additionally, gas production should rise to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has been actively pursuing reforms in Nigeria’s oil sector, attracting $17 billion in new investments last year. The administration’s goal is to raise that figure to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
Onanuga highlighted the achievements of the outgoing NNPC leadership, particularly their efforts to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which had been shut down for extended periods before being brought back into production.
The President praised the outgoing board members, including Kyari and Akinyelure, for their service to NNPC and their contributions to the company’s development.
