By Dianabasi Effiong

The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the composition of the new board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) as a reflection of President Bola Tinubu’s pro-business mindset on the oil industry.

The group made this known in a statement by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa on Wednesday.

It noted that only a President with a wealth of experience and rich private sector background could come up with such a stellar team of industry experts to take NNPCL to great heights.

It stated: ” For us, the appointment of Engineer Bashir Ojulari, who, until now, was Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company and Engineer Musa Kida as the non-executive Chairman of the 11-man board, signposts a new dawn at the NNPCL.

“Although this is not the first time the corporation would have an outsider in charge, it is the first time the board will be entirely populated by industry experts.

“We are simply elated that no single politician is on the board which for us is a demonstration of President Tinubu’s readiness to ensure professionalism in deference to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

“We totally agree with the President that the board’s restructuring is crucial for ‘enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification’.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there is none of the President’s appointees on the NNPCL board who is not a technocrat with deep insider knowledge of the oil and gas sector.

“From the Chairman, who started his career in the sector at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production, to the Group CEO, who was also at Elf before spending 30 years at Shell, the NNPCL has in place what is technically a dream team.

“This is in addition to the six board members Rabiu, North West; Yusuf Usman, North East; Austin Avuru, South-South; David Ige, South West; Henry Obih, South East; and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), representing the North Central-who are respected industry leaders in their own rights.

“We are glad that these are people who are used to setting and meeting targets; hence, President Tinubu’s immediate action plan of conducting a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives will not look like a big task.”

The group also stated that it expected the NNPCL to meet the target set by the Tinubu administration of raising oil production to two million barrels per day as well as a daily gas production of 8 billion cubic feet in 2027.

It added that it would not be out of place to expect the new NNPCL to perform feats similar to that of global giants, Aramco, and Petrobras, as well as compete with them on the international stage.

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