REVEALED! Meet The Man That Will Take Over As NNPCL GMD When Mele Kyari Retires

 

If reports available to City People are anything to go by, then it is very likely that the NNPCL will get a new GMD in the coming weeks. And the new man is almost certainly going to be a Yoruba man. According to speculations, quite a few names have been listed to replace Mele Kyari but one gentleman appears to be the most eminently qualified on the list and he is also said to be Mr. President’s choice - his name is Bayo Ojulari. 

This speculation was given more credence when former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai addressed the claims made by Nigerian professor of journalism Farooq Kperogi, who accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of engaging in ethnic favoritism in the appointments within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

In a recent article titled"Tinubu's Buharisation of the NNPC,"Kperogi highlighted concerns about the dominance of individuals from the Yoruba ethnic group in key positions at the NNPCL.

He cited an unnamed source claiming that a very experienced practitioner in the oil industry, Bayo Ojulari, was being considered as the next Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPCL after Mele Kyari's tenure ends. Kperogi further drew comparisons to the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that his appointments were largely seen as favoring the northern region.

Kperogi's article also mentioned that certain influential Yoruba figures, such as Bayo Ojulari, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the president himself, are taking key positions within the NNPC, raising concerns about national unity and equity in Tinubu's administration. The article suggested that this shift toward "Yoruba-centric" leadership could undermine national cohesion.

In his response on X (formerly Twitter), El-Rufai acknowledged Kperogi's criticisms but emphasized that "two wrongs do not make a right." He argued that while Buhari's administration may have been accused of favoritism towards the northern region, it was important for the current administration to prioritize sensible inclusion rather than resorting to what he described as "arrogant exclusion."

El-Rufai's comments stress the need for balanced and inclusive leadership, suggesting that ethnic favoritism should not be perpetuated, regardless of past actions by previous administrations. His remarks reflect a call for a more equitable approach in political appointments, which considers the diverse regions and groups that make up Nigeria.

However, reports have indeed emerged that Kyari, who would turn 60 years on January 8, 2025, may retire from service and be replaced with Bayo Ojulari,

However, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC Ltd., Mr. Olufemi Soneye, addressed concerns raised in Kperogi’s article in a weekend statement, explaining that the NNPC’s leadership structure was guided by business requirements, expertise, and merit rather than ethnicity, tribe, religion, or political affiliation.

He said the NNPCL prided itself on being a professional organisation with a diverse leadership team that includes individuals from various parts of the world.

Renowned former presidential media aide and social commentator, Reno Omokri weighed in on the matter and said el-Rufai and Kperogi were mischievously misrepresenting facts. 

 “Let us consider the facts,” he said, adding, “Look at the breakdown of the current management of the NNPCL: Chief Pius Akinyelure: Non-Executive Board Chairman-Southwest; Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari: Group Chief Executive Officer-Northeast; Adedapo Segun: Chief Financial Officer-Southwest; Mr Ledum Mitee: Non-Executive Director-South-South; Mr Musa Tumsa: Non-Executive Director-Northeast;

Mr Ghali Muhammad: Non-Executive Director-Northcentral;

Prof Mustapha Aliyu: Non-Executive Director-Northwest; Mr. David Ogbodo: Non-Executive Director-Southeast; and

Ms. Eunice Thomas: Non-Executive Director-South-South.

He said from the record that only two company board members were from the Southwest, explaining that none of the top management of the supervisory agencies was from the president’s region.

He pointed out that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobori, and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, were from the South-South, while the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr Nicholas Agbo Ella, is North-Central.

“From the above, how can anybody honestly project to the Nigerian people that President Tinubu is Yorubacentric in his appointments at the NNPCL? It beggars belief,” Omokri said.

He said: “If there is any dominance at all, then that hegemony favours the South-South, which is the most represented on the board and cabinet-level with authority over NNPCL. Then you have the Northwest, Northeast, and North-Central.

“Now, even if you want to go to the ridiculous extent of scrutinising those in the lower cadre of the NNPCL, you will find that, except possibly two positions, all of those posts were filled by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Therefore, to say that a Yoruba heads every consequential agency in finance in Nigeria is not only without basis but also capable of causing the type of market ripples that negatively affect the All-Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

Let us tell you a bit about the Yoruba man that will likely take over from Mele Kyari as the GMD of NNPCL when he takes a bow. Bayo Bashir Ojulari is a Nigerian engineer and expert in petroleum, process and production engineering. He was managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) from 2015 to 2021.

Ojulari began his engineering career in Nigeria and served in different leadership positions in Nigeria engineering professional organisations including as chairman and member of board of trustees of Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) between 1998 and 1999. He is a Fellow of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE). Ojulari worked in Europe and Middle East in different managerial capacities in Petroleum Engineering, Process Engineering, Production Engineering and in health and safety roles.

Ojulari was appointed Managing Director Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and as general manager, Deepwater in November 2015. Within this period, he served as a member of the board of directors of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) responsible for Onshore and Offshore Petroleum Engineering, Technical Integration of Development, Well and Project Engineering.[5] He retired from his positions in Shell in July 2021. He is chairman of BAT Advisory & Energy Company.

Let us tell you a little about Mele Kyari too. In July 2022, the NNPC transitioned from a public corporation to a limited liability company, and Kyari moved from being a Group Managing Director to a Group Chief Executive Officer.

Kyari, appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2019, is a veteran in the oil industry, having worked at the NNPC for the last 32 years.

His over five years on the job as NNPC's boss is the longest that anyone has spent in the cushiest office in the Nigerian oil industry since the country's return to democracy in 1999.

The NNPC has had 19 managing directors since its formation in 1977, with only two of them (Professor Funsho Kupolokun (Ondo, 2003-2007), Augustine O. Oniwon (Kogi, 2010-2012) from the South-West and North-Central.

Kyari is also one of the few appointments alongside the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, inherited by President Bola Tinubu that has not yet been dismissed. 

                                                           WALE LAWAL (08037209290)