President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Bayo Ojulari as the new group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Ojulari’s appointment followed the sacking of Mele Kyari from the same office.
Ojulari’s appointment was announced by the presidency in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy, at an early hour of Wednesday, April 2, adding that his appointment takes immediate effect.
The NNPC is a national asset that manages Nigeria’s oil, a major source of revenue for the West African country. Under the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the NNPC transitioned to a limited company and is reportedly ready to be listed on Nigeria’s stock exchange.
However, there are some facts Nigerians need to know about the new manager of the NNPC. Some of these facts were mentioned in the president’s statements. Below are the listed facts about Ojulari:
The new NNPC Limited GCEO hailed from Kwara, a north-central state.
He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Before his appointment, Ojulari was working as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. The firm recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.
Ojulari began his career in the oil sector with Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer. He then joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist and rose to the position of the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
The presidency explained that Ojulari has also worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager.
The new NNPC boss had also served as the chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
