President Bola Tinubu has named Bashir Ojulari as the new Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. The announcement was made in an official statement by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
The statement, titled ‘President Tinubu Reconstitutes NNPC Limited Board, Appoints New Chairman and Group CEO,’ confirmed that Tinubu exercised his powers under Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
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This move also resulted in the removal of Mele Kyari as the former Group Managing Director of NNPC Limited.
Here are 10 things to know about Bayo Ojulari
1. Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, hails from Kwara State.
2. Prior to this appointment, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Renaissance Africa Energy Company. He recently spearheaded a $2.4 billion acquisition of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) by a consortium of indigenous firms.
3. Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
4. The Mechanical Engineering graduate who led the Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) team for the Bonga FPSO is now the second NNPC Limited GCEO in history.
5. He began his career at Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer before joining Shell in 1991.
6. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. in 1991 as an associate production technologist, rising to become the Managing Director of Shell’s deep water assets.
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7. Apart from working in Nigeria, his career spans Europe and the Middle East, where he worked in various roles, including petroleum engineering, strategic planning, and asset management.
8. In 2015, he became Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
9. He has served as Chairman and Board Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council).
10. Also a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ojulari is married with children.