Buhari appoints Mele Kyari as new NNPC GMD, seven COOs

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

A statement on Thursday in Abuja by the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, stated that President Buhari also appointed alongside Kyari, seven new Chief Operating Officers.

Until his new appointment, Kyari, a geologist, was Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC and also doubled, since 13th May, 2018, as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

According to the statement, President Buhari has directed that the new GMD and the newly appointed Chief Operating Officers work with the current occupiers of the various offices till 7th July, 2019 towards a smooth transition on 8thJuly 2019 when their appointments would take effect to ensure a smooth transition.

However, the appointment of Mr. Farouk Garba Said (North West), who is replacing a retiring Chief Operating Officer, is effective from 28th June, 2019, the statement noted.

The newly appointed Chief Operating Officers are:

1.    Mr. Roland Onoriode Ewubare (South-South) – Chief Operating Officer, Upstream

2.    Engr. Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu (North Central) – Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals

3.    Engr. Yusuf Usman (North East) – Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power

4.    Ms. Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu (South East), Chief Operating Officer, Ventures

5.    Mr. Umar Isa Ajiya (North West) – Chief Financial Officer

6.    Engr. Adeyemi Adetunji (South West) – Chief Operating Officer, Downstream

7.    Mr. Farouk Garba Said (North West) – Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services.

Ughamadu added that the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, had congratulated the new appointees.

“Mallam Kyari is a quintessential crude oil marketer with prerequisite certification and outfield pedigree in Petroleum Economics and crude oil and gas trading.

“In the last 27 years, he had traversed the entire value chain of the Petroleum Industry, with exceptional records of performance.

“Under his watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division has recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of the various Nigeria’s crude oil grades via an infusion of transparency and automation of the processes,” the statement added.

Kyari would be the 19th Group Managing Director of the National Oil Company.