President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new Board and Management team for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) with effect from Dec. 1.

A statement issued by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, announced this on Monday in Abuja.

He said that this was in compliance with Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.

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The appointees are: Chief Pius Akinyelure — Non-Executive Board Chairman, Malam Mele Kolo Kyari — Group Chief Executive Officer, and Alhaji Umar Isa Ajiya — Chief Financial Officer.

Others are Mr Ledum Mitee — Non-Executive Director, Mr Musa Tumsa — Non-Executive Director, and Mr Ghali Muhammad — Non-Executive Director.

The rest are Prof. Mustapha Aliyu — Non-Executive Director, Mr David Ogbodo — Non-Executive Director, and Ms Eunice Thomas — Non-Executive Director.

He said that the president also approved the appointment of two Permanent Secretaries.

They are Mr Okokon Ekanem Udo for Federal Ministry of Finance and Amb. Gabriel Aduda for Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

Tinubu urged the appointees to comply with the performance-driven and results-oriented mandate of his Renewed Hope administration in the implementation of energy policy.

“This will monetise all available oil and gas resources of today while paving the way for the total exploitation of new and cleaner energy sources of tomorrow by this distinguished team,” the statement said.

Mele Kolo Kyari (born 8 January 1965) is a Nigerian geologist, crude oil marketer and 1st Group Chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum company limited (NNPC limited). Before this appointment, Kyari was the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of the NNPC and the Nigerian National Representative at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since 2018.

Kyari was appointed by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the 19th GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. In 1991, he joined NNPC Processing Geophysicist with Integrated Data Services Limited. In 1991, he started his career with the Department of Geological Survey of Nigeria as Field Geologist.

He worked as an Exploration Geophysicist with the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) in 1998. In 2007, Kyari headed the Production Sharing Contracts Management in Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD). In 2014, he became the General Manager, Crude Oil Stock Management while in 2015 he was promoted to the post of Group General Manager, COMD. He is the focal person for the Open Government Initiative, the initiative helps the government to track the buyer and seller of crude oil. On 13 May 2018, he became the Nigerian National Representative at OPEC