President Bola Tinubu has appointed Bashir Ojulari as the new Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The announcement was made by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement released early Wednesday.
In the statement, Onanuga disclosed that, under the authority granted by Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, President Tinubu has also removed Mele Kyari from his position as NNPCL GMD.
Additionally, the President dissolved the company’s board, including Chairman Pius Akinyelure, and reconstituted a new 11-member board.
Ojulari’s appointment is set to take effect on April 2, 2025. Below are key details about the new NNPCL boss.
A seasoned engineer from Kwara State, Ojulari has extensive experience in petroleum, process, and production engineering.
Before his appointment, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
There, he played a pivotal role in leading a consortium of local energy companies in the $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria’s full equity interest.
Ojulari holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
His career began as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine, after which he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1991 as an associate production technologist.
Throughout his career, Ojulari has gained international experience, holding leadership roles across Europe and the Middle East in areas such as petroleum engineering, process engineering, production engineering, and health and safety.
In 2015, he was appointed Managing Director of SNEPCo and General Manager of Deepwater.
A fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ojulari was also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) from 1998 to 1999.
He has also served on the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company, overseeing critical technical aspects in both onshore and offshore petroleum engineering, as well as well engineering and project integration.
With decades of experience in the energy sector, Ojulari’s leadership is expected to guide NNPCL through its next phase of growth and transformation.
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