In its reorganization efforts, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has sacked some top officials and several lower and middle-class staff of the national oil company.
Some of the top officials include Bala Wunti, Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPCL Upstream Investment Services (NUIMS); Ibrahim Onoja, Managing Director, Kaduna Refinery; and Lawal Sade, Chief Compliance Officer and former Managing Director of NNPCL Trading.
NUIMS, where Wunti headed, is the investment management arm of the NNPCL that manages Nigeria’s investments in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, plus its equity holdings in Joint Venture (JV), Production Sharing Contract (PSC), and Service Contract (SC) companies.
President Bola Tinubu had, earlier in the month, removed Kyari as the GCEO of NNPCL and replaced him with Bayo Ojulari. He also dissolved the NNPCL board and appointed an 11-man board led by Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.
According to a source in the company, “many of those affected had about 17 months or below to retire, so they were given incentives to retire early to allow fresh people into the system. It is a practice that has been going on for years in the NNPCL.”
The national oil company had in September 2023 undertook a similar purge of several employees and some management staff. In a statement at that time, the NNPCL said only staff members with less than 15 months to retirement will be affected, and that “through targeted talent management and equal opportunity for all Nigerians,” the company aimed at upscaling its performance.
In the ongoing reorganization, Maryam Idrisu takes over as Managing Director of NNPCL Trading, the unit responsible for all crude oil transactions, while Obioma Abangwu becomes the Chief Liaison Officer for board matters.
Idrisu studied Economics at the University of Abuja from 1996 – 1999, and obtained her Master’s degree in Energy Economics at the University of Dundee in 2005. She earlier served as the Executive Director of Planning and Commercial at NNPCL Trading and as the Executive Director of Crude and Condensate at NNPC Trading Limited.She also served as Manager of pricing and valuation in the crude Oil Marketing Division, and Deputy Manager of pricing and performance in the crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC.
