Profile: Meet reconstituted NNPC board members

May 30, 2020

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President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the reconstitution of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

This was contained in a statement on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

The decision followed the expiration of the team of the board members appointed in 2016.

Members of the new board include Mohammed Lawal (North West), Tajudeen Umar (North East), Adamu Mahmood Attah (North Central), Senator Magnus Abe (South-South), Dr Stephen Dike (South East), and Chief Pius Akinyelure (South West).

The new board will be in place for three years. However, the president did not state who will head the board as chairman.

Ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu served in this capacity from 2016 to 2019.

He was replaced by John Asuquo Thomas, who acted as alternate chairman until Timipre Sylva was appointed as minister of state.

However, Sylvia has not been officially announced as the board chairman.

Observers, meanwhile, reckon that this may just be another lopsided appointment, especially as most of the board members were at different times loyal to President Buhari, Bola Tinubu or the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at large.

Lawal, for instance, is a former Deputy Director of Buhari Presidential Campaign Council. He played a crucial role in ending the Peoples Democratic Party’s 16 years hegemony at the helms of affairs. Due to the president’s trust, Lawal continues on the board after serving in the last term.

Like his counterpart from North-West, Tajudeen Umar is a staunch ‘Buharist’ and retains his spot too. Mr. Umar is a former chairman of the Joint Development Authority (JDA), an exclusive economic zone overlapping Nigeria’s maritime boundaries and law and Nigeria’s exclusive economic zone.

Similar to the aforementioned duo, Mr. Akinyelure keeps his job for another three years. Unlike the pair, however, the renowned industrialist and businessssman has been Tinubu’s close ally, dating back to their time at Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc where Akinyelure served as executive director and the APC national leader, Accountant.

The South-West representative with interests in various companies operating in the shipping, insurance, banking, oil and gas sectors is the chairman/Director of many blue chip companies, including United Courier Limited. He was also pioneer vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress from 2014-2018.

Leading the newbies is Adamu Mahmoud Atta from North-Central. Atta is Chief Executive Officer of Matad Group Nigeria Ltd. He is also on the board of Wapic Insurance Plc and Member of Nigerian Business Forum. The businessman received an undergraduate degree from Alliant International University, a graduate degree from Ahmadu Bello University and a post-graduate degree from the University of California.

Atta is joined by Stephen Dike from the South-East. Founder of Westcon International Ltd., Dike currently is Chairman of Advanced Management & Technological Solutions. He is also on the board of Niger Insurance Co. Plc and Enugu Electricity Distribution Co. Plc.

In his past career Dr. Dike held the position of Chief Executive Officer at Westcon International Ltd., Manager-Risk Management at Coyanosa Gas Services Corp. and Chairman at Nigerian Educational Research & Development Council. Dr. Dike received a doctorate, a graduate degree and an MBA from West Virginia University.

Magnus Abe (South-South) is the only seasoned politician among the bunch. A trained lawyer, he has served in a different capacity in Rivers State. He was the state’s Assembly Minority Leader, Commissioner for Information and Secretary to the Government. At the national level, he represented Rivers South-East in the Senate before moving to the APC in 2014.

Profile: Meet reconstituted NNPC board members

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