By Uche Amunike
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the incorporation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari said that the company will no longer be in existence in the next six months, as stated by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, explaining that it will be transformed into a private company and be Incorporated under the Company Allied Matters Act, CAMA.
This, he said , will run as a commercial company while the federation will still own all shares.
President Buhari gave the approval for the appointment of the Board and Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and made Sen Ifeanyi Ararume, Chairman.
He appointed Mele Kyari, Chief Executive Officer and made Umar Ajiya the Chief Financial Officer.
The other members of the Board are Dr Tajudeen Umar (North East); Mrs Lami Ahmed (North Central); Sen. Margaret Chuba Okadigbo (South East); Chief Pius Akinyelure (South West); Barrister Constance Harry Marshal (North West) and Mallam Mohammed Lawal (Northwest).Below are their profiles:
Senator Ifeanyi Ararume was in the Senate for two tenures between 1999 and 2007 under the aegis of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
He graduated from Liberty University, Lynchburg Virginia in the USA with a first degree and a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Benin.
Mele Kyari was appointed Group Managing Director of the NNPC in July 2019. Before then, he was Nigeria’s national representative to OPEC and occupied various management positions in the NNPC’s Crude Oil Marketing Division. He studied Geology and Earth science at the University of Maiduguri and served the nation as a youth corper at the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure as a Wellsite Geologist.
On his part, Umar Ajiya graduated from ABU Zaria with a degree in Accounting in 1987 and a master’s degree from the Lagos State University in 1988. He has served in the oil and gas sector for over 30 years. His career commenced with Elf petroleum now known as Total and joined the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited,(NLNG) in 1991. He made great impact in NLNG, especially as it concerned raising the bar in Finance and Marketing. He became the NNPC General Manager and was Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy of the NNPC group before he was promoted to Chief Financial Officer of NNPC in 2019. As MD of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC, he transformed it from a loss making to a profitable company for the first time in 28 years. He is Board member of many organization’s including the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.
Chief Pius Oluwole Akinyelure also sits on the Board. A certified accountant and Oil Industry technocrat, he was former Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, South Western between 2014 and 2018. For 35 years, he maintained interests that spanned between business, industry and politics in the upstream and downstream settings of Exxon Mobil until he retired as Executive Director, Finance and External Relations. He was appointed as a board member in 2016 and reappointed in June 2020.
Dr Tajudeen Umar used to chair the Joint Development Authority, JDA. A Petroleum Geologist, he has held several positions in both the public and private sectors. His last position in the public sector was Executive Chairman and Executive Director, Monitoring and Inspections, Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority. His first appointment as a member of the NNPC Board was in 2016 while his reappointment was in June 2020.
Mrs Lami Onayi Ahmed has bagged three Masters degrees in Physiology, Business Administration and Social Work.
She has over 30 years experience in the Oil and Gas sector and is involved in philanthropy.
Mallam Mohammed Lawal is a specialist in Engineering Procurement. He has over 35 years experience in the field of procurement, public policy administration and politics. He has been a member of the board from 2020 till date.
As for Lady Margaret Okadigbo, the Supreme Court declared her winner of the Anambra North seat at the Senate after a fierce battle with Alphonsus Igbeke and John Emeka in April 2011 election. She is the widow of the late former Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo.
Barrister Constance Harry Marshall is a seasoned lawyer. He was murdered in his bedroom in 2003.
He used to be the national leader of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP. He was Buhari’s political ally from the South-South and also a former coordinator in Rivers state for the project 4+4 Rivers state partner.
