KEY POINTS

• The president dismissed Kyari and the NNPCL board members after they demonstrated incapable performance in reaching their established goals.
• NNPCL appointed Bashir Ojulari to lead the company as its Group CEO.
• The newly established board has responsibility to enhance crude oil extraction alongside carrying out refinery updates.

President Bola Tinubu terminated the leadership of Mele Kyari along with other board members from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) because the organization had failed to reach its production goals.

The personnel change announced on Wednesday seeks to increase production of crude oil alongside natural gas for Nigeria.

Tinubu sacks Kyari, reasons for the shake-up

The recent performance dissatisfaction toward Kyari’s team along with their three-year leadership led to his team members’ dismissal.

Presidency officials declared that the former management had led the country into endless cycles while failing to resolve the national problems since taking office.

The organization required different approaches toward operations. The previous board members continued circulating instead of achieving results which necessitated fresh energy to generate results.

New leadership appointments

Bashir Ojulari took the position of the Group CEO beginning April 2, 2025. The new organization put eleven industry professionals in place as Bayo Ojulari took the CEO position beside non-executive chairman Musa Ahmadu-Kida.

The NNPCL board consists of members who come from each Nigerian geopolitical area to achieve balanced geographical representation.

The presidential mandate under President Tinubu demands raising daily oil output to 3 million barrels per day by 2030 as the administration works to secure 2 million barrels per day by 2027. Gas production targets established by the President extended to 10 billion cubic meters for the year 2030.

Industry reactions as Tinubu sacks Kyari

Numerous oil and gas industry participants reacted favorably to the reorganization of the NNPCL board. IPMAN indicated support for the new leadership to rehabilitate national refineries at Port Harcourt and Warri and Kaduna as a way to generate homegrown petroleum supplies.

According to the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists this decision will lead to operational improvements that will boost profitability.

Tompolo from Tantita Security Services commended President Tinubu for choosing an experienced board since these new members would carry out refineries’ capacity upgrade.

The Naira-for-crude deal and refineries

Tinubu sacks Kyari, however the new leadership will face difficulties in reconciling NNPCL and the Dangote refinery which currently have a disagreement over the naira-for-crude arrangement.

The disagreement between parties has created a disruption in crude oil delivery which caused fuel prices to rise.