Menu

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mele Kolo Kyari as the new Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The President also announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer (CFO) and six chief operating officers (COOs) for the national oil company.

The shake-up at the NNPC comes three weeks after the inauguration of President Buhari for his second in office. The president is yet to constitute his ministerial cabinet. While the appointment of Farouk Garba Said, who is replacing the retiring COO of Corporate Services, takes effect on June 28, all the other appointments are effective from July 8, 2019.

According to a statement released on Thursday by the NNPC, Kyari will become the 19th GMD of the national oil company, replacing Maikanti Baru, whose tenure ends in July.

The other new appointees are Umar Isa Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer; Roland Onoriode Ewubare, COO of Upstream; Adeyemi Adeunji, COO of Downstream; Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu, COO of Refining and Petrochemicals; Yusuf Usman, COO of Gas and Power; and Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu, COO of Ventures.

Until his appointment, Kyari, who is a geologist, served as the NNPC’s General Manager of the Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) and, since May 2018, doubled as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

NNPC said the COMD has recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of various crude oil grades due to the infusion of transparency and automation of the processes Kyari introduced. Kyari has worked at various levels in the entire value chain of the petroleum industry, according to the NNPC.