Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, announced this at a company-wide town hall meeting on Tuesday at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

He stated that the position isn’t a shift. Rather, it is informed by ongoing detailed technical and financial reviews of the Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri refineries.

The ongoing review indicates that the earlier decision to operate the Port Harcourt refinery prior to full completion of its rehabilitation was ill-informed and sub-commercial, Ojulari said.

Although progress is being made on all three refineries, the emerging outlook calls for more advanced technical partnerships to complete and high-grade the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.

Thus, selling is highly unlikely as it would lead to further value erosion.

The announcement comes in the wake of widespread speculation following his remarks at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna, Austria earlier this month, where he said during an interview with Bloomberg that “all options are on the table.” The comment sparked speculation and headlines about the future of the nation’s refining assets.

The declaration was received with applause from hundreds of staff attendees, who described the position as a renewed sense of business-focused direction across the organisation.

The town hall served as more than a performance update, it was an opportunity for candid and constructive engagement.

The Executive Vice Presidents presented progress reports from the Upstream, Downstream, Finance, Business Services, Gas, Power, and New Energy businesses, highlighting operational achievements, ongoing reforms, and areas requiring attention.

In a tone marked by honesty and leadership, challenges and earlier missteps were acknowledged, and a clear roadmap was outlined for the journey ahead.

The announcement reinforces NNPC’s mandate as a strategic custodian of national energy infrastructure and reflects a firm resolve to deliver on the complete rehabilitation and long-term viability of Nigeria’s refineries. It also signals continuity in the Federal Government’s broader energy security objectives and a commitment to retaining critical assets under national control.

Feedback during and after the session revealed a workforce energised and aligned with the leadership’s vision. Described as “reassuring,” “transformational,” and “sustainable,” the atmosphere reflected an optimist outlook among employees and hopefulness about the company’s evolving strategic direction.

NNPC Ltd will continue to reposition itself as a commercially driven, professionally managed national energy company, grounded in transparency, focused on performance, and unwavering in its responsibility to its number one stakeholder group, Nigerians, Ojulari concluded.

The decision included the removal of Mele Kyari as the group chief executive officer (GCEO), and Pius Akinyelure, as Board chairman, of the NNPCL respectively.

Consequently, the President appointed Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group CEO of NNPCL, while Ahmadu Musa Kida takes over as the non-executive chairman of the reconstituted 11-man Board of the oil company.

According to a release issued in the early hours of Wednesday 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.

Also, 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, representing the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu (North West), Yusuf Usman (Nort- East), and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG) represents North Central zone.

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.

Permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Lydia Shehu Jafiya, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

All the appointments are effective Wednesday, 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 was crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.

President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.

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 expected 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.

The new board chairman, Ahmadu Musa Kida, is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984.

He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrole (IFP) in Paris.

He started his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985. Musa became Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.

Apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketballer and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation(NBBF) board.

Who is Bashir Bayo Ojulari?

Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, hails from Kwara State. Until 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.

Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He worked for Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer to begin a stellar career in the oil sector. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist.

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.

In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).

During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled them to resume petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavours.