THE newly appointed Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has officially taken over the reins of the company, pledging to consolidate on the achievements of his predecessor.
He took over the mantle of leadership from his predecessor, Mele Kyari, at an official handover ceremony at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Friday, April 4, according to a statement by the company’s chief corporate communications officer, Olufemi Soneye.
The new helmsman at the state-owned oil company noted that the objective of his lead management would be to consolidate the successes of his predecessor and take the company to the next level.
He said though the targets set for his management were quite enormous, he would be relying on the cooperation of the management and staff of the company, as well as the counsel of his predecessor, to achieve the set targets.
He commended Kyari for his contributions to the growth of NNPCL and his sterling service to the nation.
“I will be counting on your support. I will need it. I will be coming around to seek your counsel,” Ojulari told Kyari.
In his remarks, Kyari congratulated Ojulari and thanked the management and staff of the company for their support while in office.
The former NNPCL boss pledged to do everything within his power to support the new management to succeed, stressing that he would only be a call away.
President Bola Tinubu had on Wednesday, April 2, sacked Kyari, along with board chairman Pius Akinyelure and other board members, The ICIR reported.
He replaced the former border with Ojulari as the GCEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as the non-executive chairman.
The shakeup saw a complete overhaul of the 11-man board appointed in November 2023.
In the new appointment, the President named Adedapo Segun as the chief financial officer and appointed six non-executive directors to represent Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
They are 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).
Tinubu also appointed Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Aminu Said Ahmed from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to the board.
The president said he acted in line with Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, stressing his decision was necessary to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boost local content, and advance gas commercialisation and diversification.
He directed the new board to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPCL-operated and joint venture assets to align them with value maximisation objectives.