President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the incorporation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and appointed a nine-member board for the company after its conversion to a liability firm.
Buhari directed the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, to take necessary steps towards ensuring that NNPC Limited was incorporated with strict adherence with the provisions of the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA) 2021.
To ensure effiencieny, the president also appointed a nine-member board that would be chaired by Ifeanyi Ararume, the senator representing Imo North senatorial district.
Others appointed as board members were NNPC’s GMD, Kyari, and Umar Ajiya, as the Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.
Representing each of the geopolitical zones were: Dr Tajudeen Umar (North East), Lami Ahmed (North Central), Mohammed Lawal (North West), Margaret Chuba Okadigbo (South East), Constance Harry Marshal (South South), and Pius Akinyelure (South West).
The approval was disclosed through a statement released on Sunday before the President left the country with some members of his cabinet for the 76th United Nations (UN) general assembly in United States by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
Buhari, who acts as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, stated that the order was in consonance with Section 53(1) of the PIA 2021, which requires the Minister of Petroleum Resources to cause for the incorporation of the NNPC Limited within six months of commencement of the Act.
He added that the approval was in consultation with the act that stipulated the Petroleum Minister should consult his Finance colleague on the nominal shares of the Company.
The statement reads: “Also, by the power vested in him under Section 59(2) of the PIA 2021, President Buhari has approved the appointment of the Board and Management of the NNPC Limited, with effect from the date of incorporation of the Company”.
