President Tinubu Removes Kyari as CEO of NNPCL,  Replaces Him With Ojulari

By Towncriernews 

In a move to restructure the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, President Bola Tinubu has removed the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kolo Kyari, and the Non-Executive Chairman of the board, Pius Akinyelure.

The decision Towncriernews gathered was announced in a Statement House Press released dated April 2, 2025, and signed by the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

Also are all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023 and the announcement of a new 11-man board which has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman. All the appointments are with immediate effect.

Handing out an immediate action plan to the new board, President Tinubu charged them “to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives”. 

He also set for the new board, a target of 200,000 barrels per day crude oil refining capacity by 2027 and a challenging 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.

According to Onanuga, “Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

“The Tinubu administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030.

“Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030. Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030”.

In the new structure, 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 also 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, according to the presidential spokesman.

Kyari, the former GCEO, was first appointed into the position by former President Muhammadu Buhari on July 7, 2019, and was reappointed by President Tinubu November 28, 2023, while the appointment took effect from Friday December 1, 2023.