Buhari appoints Okadigbo’s widow as NNPC Board chair, drops Ararume

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed the Board and Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The appointment was made in accordance with the power vested in the President under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.

Chairman of the Board is Senator Margret Chuba Okadigbo (South-East), Mele Kolo Kyari, Chief Executive Officer, and Umar I. Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer.

Other Board Members are; Dr. Tajudeen Umar (North-East), Mrs Lami O. Ahmed (North-Central), Mallam Mohammed Lawal (North-West), Engr. Henry Obih (South-East), Barrister Constance Harry Marshal (South-South), and Chief Pius Akinyelure (South-West).

The appointments take effect from the date of the incorporation of the NNPC Limited.

Only Senator Ifeanyi Ararume was dropped from the earlier board which its inauguration was suspended.

President Buhari had on September 19 named Senator Ifeanyi Ararume as Chairman of the Board while Mele Kolo Kyari and Umar I. Ajiya were appointed as Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.

Other Board Members are: Dr. Tajudeen Umar (North-East), Mrs. Lami O. Ahmed (North-Central), Mallam Mohammed Lawal (North-West), Senator Margaret Chuba Okadigbo (South-East), Barrister Constance Harry Marshal (South-South), and Chief Pius Akinyelure (South-West).

Also appointed are Executive Commissioners of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. They are: Dr. Nuhu Habib (Kano), Executive Commissioner, Development and Production; Dr. Kelechi Onyekachi Ofoegbu (Imo), Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning; Capt. Tonlagha Roland John (Delta), Executive Commissioner, Health, Safety, Environment and Community; and Jide Adeola (Kogi), Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services and Administration.

Earlier appointed are the Board Chairman, CEO, Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management, and Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts.

New appointees at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority are Francis Alabo Ogaree (Rivers), Executive Director, Hydrocarbon Processing; Mustapha Lamorde (Adamawa), Executive Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Community; Mansur Kuliya (Kano), Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund; Bashir Sadiq (Sokoto), Executive Director, Corporate Services and Administration, and Dr. Zainab Gobir (Kwara), Executive Director, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning.

They join the Board Chairman, Executive Director, Downstream Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, the CEO, and Executive Director, Finance and Accounts, who had earlier been appointed.

For Midstream and Downstream Infrastructure Fund, new Council Members are; Mr. Effiong Abia (Akwa Ibom), Bobboi Ahmed (Adamawa), and Engr. Abdullahi Bukar (Katsina).

It will be recalled that President Buhari had last September written the Senate on the administrative structure amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act, which included appointment of Non-Executive Board Members, removal of the Ministries of Petroleum and Finance from the Board of the two new institutions, and appointment of Executive Directors.