President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari, as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The President has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the Chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.
According to a release issued in the early hours of this morning by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the President also removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.
Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.
President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.
Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
All the appointments are effective today, April 2.
President Tinubu, while invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasised that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.
Who is Engr Bayo Ojulari
Bayo Bashir Ojulari, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), is a seasoned Nigerian engineer with expertise in petroleum, process, and production engineering.
Before his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.
He began his career as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine before joining Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1991.
A native of Kwara State, Ojulari served as the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) from 2015 to 2021.
An alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, (Mechanical Engineering 1985 – 1989) .
A fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, he was a member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) from 1998 to 1999.
Throughout his career, he has held managerial roles in Europe and the Middle East, specializing in petroleum engineering, process engineering, production engineering, and health and safety.
In November 2015, Ojulari was appointed Managing Director of SNEPCo and General Manager, Deepwater.
He also served on the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), overseeing onshore and offshore petroleum engineering, technical integration of development, well engineering, and project engineering.
Apart from working in Nigeria, he worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager.
