President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday appointed Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited.
This came on the heels of the sack of the board, including its GCEO Mele Kyari and board chairperson Pius Akinyelure.
The decision, effective April 2, 2025, was announced in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, on Wednesday.
Citing the need for “enhanced operational efficiency, restored investor confidence, and a more commercially viable NNPC,” Tinubu invoked his powers under section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 to carry out the sweeping reconstitution.
As part of the overhaul, Ojulari takes over from Kyari as the new group CEO, while Ahmadu Musa Kida has been appointed as NNPC’s new non-executive chairman, replacing Pius Akinyelure. Also, Adedapo Segun has been confirmed as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO).
1.Ojulari is a native of Kwara State and a seasoned Nigerian engineer with experience in petroleum, process, and production engineering.
2. Between 1985 and 1989, he graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, having studied Mechanical Engineering.
3. From September 1989 to October 1991, Ojulari worked as a fresh graduate at Elf.
4. He joined Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as an Associate Production Technologist in November 1991, following his departure from Elf Petroleum Nigeria as a Fields and Process Engineer.
5. He worked with Shell for nearly 24 years, ascending to the position of Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in November 2015, which he held until July 2021.
6. After joining Shell in 1991, he advanced to the Integrated Studies Team at Shell headquarters in the Netherlands in June 1994, a post he held until October 1995.
7. From April 1997 to November 1999, he was the Head of Planning Economics and Budgeting at SPDC Nigeria.
8. He then moved on to become the Asset Leader and Head Production Technologist at Shell in Oman from December 1999 to September 2003.
9. In October 2003, he became the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Planner at Shell headquarters, where he remained until December 2004.
10. From January 2005 to October 2008, he was the Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at SPDC Nigeria.
11. At Shell, Ojulari remained in Nigeria from then on, becoming the Manager, Asset Development (Onshore and Shallow Water) SPDC Nigeria from October 2008 to October 2010.
12. From January 2010 to October 2015, he was the Development Director at SPDC Nigeria, after which he rose to become the Managing Director of SNEPCo from November 2015 to July 2021, when he left the company.
13. He created the BAT Advisory and Energy Company Nigeria Ltd in September 2021 and served as its board chairman. One of the main tasks of the company was to provide consultancy services to firms in the oil and gas/energy sector.
14. He was named the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company in January 2024, a position he held until his new appointment as NNPC chief.
