Can Nigeria's NNPC Become Africa's Aramco? A New CEO, A New Board, and a Nation's Last Shot at Energy Reform"

Nigeria's oil and gas industry— long plagued by inefficiency, opacity, and political interference—is standing at a pivotal crossroads.

- By Gilbert Da Costa

With the recent appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari (BBO), an ex-Shell executive with deep industry roots, as Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), and the reconstitution of its board by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a long-overdue transformation may finally be within reach. The stakes could not be higher: oil accounts for 90% of Nigeria's exports and nearly half of government revenue. The health of NNPC Ltd. is inextricably tied to the health of the nation.

For decades, NNPC has been Nigeria's golden goose—and its Achilles' heel. Once envisioned as a national engine of prosperity, the state oil firm became a byword for dysfunction, bloated bureaucracy, and unbridled corruption. Even after its transition to a commercial entity under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the company continues to struggle with trust deficits, missed production targets, and crippling financial opacity. But could this new leadership be the jolt NNPC needs to evolve into a transparent, commercially viable enterprise—perhaps even Africa's answer to Saudi Aramco?

The BBO Mandate: Technocrat at the Helm

Ojulari's pedigree inspires cautious optimism. From humble beginnings as a Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine to helming Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), and most recently co-leading the landmark $2.4 billion acquisition of Shell's onshore assets by Renaissance Africa Energy, he brings technical gravitas and commercial experience in equal measure.

He steps into a minefield: years of declining oil production, ballooning debts, unpaid counterpart funding to joint ventures, and an overstaffed, inefficient bureaucracy. Yet he also inherits an opportunity: an administration seemingly ready to back reform with political capital.