By Opeyemi Adelakun
President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to reform and list the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on the Nigerian Exchange as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s capital market and oil industry.
Tinubu disclosed this on Friday when he received the board and management of the Nigerian Exchange Group at the State House in Abuja.
The NGX delegation was led by its Chairman, Umaru Kwairanga, and Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Temi Popoola.
Speaking during the meeting, Tinubu said the national oil company would be repositioned before being introduced to the capital market.
“The NNPC will be reformed and listed in the capital market,” the President said.
The President also pointed to what he described as encouraging economic indicators and positive assessments from economic experts, saying the developments indicated a more promising outlook for Nigerians.
NNPC targets 2028 listing as reforms gather pace
The announcement builds on an earlier disclosure by NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, who said the company was working towards listing on the stock exchange by 2028.
Ojulari made the disclosure on July 12 while outlining the company’s plans to transform the national oil company into a commercially oriented limited liability company.
“With collaborations of our industry players, we will be the catalyst in the transformation of the national oil company to a limited liability company,” Ojulari said.
He added that the company had developed a roadmap for the proposed listing, saying, “We have a roadmap to be listed by 2028.”
Ojulari also said NNPC had made considerable progress towards creating what he described as a stable and secure business environment for the oil and gas industry.
The planned listing would bring the national oil company into the Nigerian capital market, potentially creating greater public-market visibility and subjecting its corporate performance to the requirements associated with a listed company.
Also speaking during the meeting with the NGX delegation, the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, said the removal of the petrol subsidy was fundamental to the economic reforms being implemented by the administration.
Adedeji said the subsidy removal was necessary to address economic distortions that had persisted in Nigeria for about four decades.
He described the decision to remove the subsidy shortly after Tinubu assumed office as a critical foundation for the reforms currently being pursued by the administration.
According to Adedeji, the President’s decision to remove the subsidy within an hour of taking the oath of office represented the starting point for the economic changes being witnessed.
He said the decision was “the bedrock, background, and fundamental of the changes we are seeing”.
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