NNPCL gives update on possible exit of Mele Kyari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reacted to reports of possible exit of its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, in January 2025.

The Company said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the final say on the purported exit of Kyari while describing the exit claims in January 2025 as false.

NewsWireNGR reports that there have been insunuations that Kyari, who would turn 60 years on January 8, 2025, may retire from service and be replaced with one Bayo Ojulari.

The NNPCL spokesperson Olufemi Soneye was quoted by Daily Post to have said appointments are based on expertise, skills, and ability to deliver, not on ethnicity, religion, or other sentiments.

Soneye said the claims are rumors and false.

Speaking, he said; “I don’t know anything about that; all those things are rumors and false. The man (Mele Kyari) has his time and tenure; the president has the final say. As the Minister of Petroleum, anything he wants to do, he will do. For us, it is to continue with our work and do it right.”

“This is a global energy company. Movement in the company is based on expertise, skills, and ability to deliver, not on the basis that you are from X, Y, or Z; you are Muslim or Christian. Gone are the days we did that; if we do that, we cannot have foreigners working for us. We have Dutch, American, and British managing directors of our businesses. If we are doing only Muslim, Christian, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, we won’t have them. Where we have Nigerians that can deliver, they are there. We, the company, look for professionals that can deliver,” he told DAILY POST.

This comes as some other players in the oil and gas sector stated that the GCEO’s tenure is expected to terminate in 2027, in line with Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which states that, “The composition of the Board of the NNPC Limited shall be determined in accordance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act and its Articles of Association.”