Tinubu Inaugurates 11-man NNPCL Board

* Charges members to prioritize profitability, service and N’Delta recognition 

* Chairman sets 2m bpd target for 2024

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

President Bola Tinubu on Monday inaugurated the 11-man board and management team for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) with a charge on the board members to focus on profitability, increased production and robust governance. 

Speaking after inaugurating the board and management team in his office at the State House, Abuja, the president emphasized that their appointment should not be viewed as mere “cake sharing”, urging optimal performance on their part.

He also called for a critical review of the Petroleum Industry Act and recognition of the Niger Delta’s vital role in producing oil. 

Addressing newsmen after the inauguration, the Chairman of the 11-man board, Chief Pius Akinyelure, set an ambitious production target of two million barrels per day by 2024 for the NNPCL, emphasizing the substantial challenges confronting Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

He also canvassed for a comprehensive overhaul of the national security architecture to address losses incurred through oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

His words: “To make sure that as the key performance indicators of the oil industry in Nigeria, probably, we’ll become number one in Africa and probably competing with leading oil and gas companies around the world. It is not an easy task, but we know we have the challenge of oil stealing, the vandalism of our pipelines.

“Our commitment is to produce at a rate of two million barrels per day, anytime from next year. But to do this, we have to overhaul our security architecture so that the incidences of stealing, vandalism of pipelines can be reduced. And this will possibly help to build up our cash flow. And this will possibly help to build up our cash flow.”

Details later…