By Gideon Osaka
Four months into Mr. Bayo Ojulari’s tenure as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the atmosphere at the company’s base in Abuja remains tense, marked by ongoing disagreements and apparent leadership struggles that continue to impact the state oil giant.
Valuechain reports that on April 2, 2025, President Bola Tinubu, in one fell swoop, dissolved the entire board of NNPC Ltd, the corporation transformed into a company under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, and appointed former Shell executive, Bayo Bashir Ojulari, as Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), replacing the long-serving Mele Kyari. Alongside him, Tinubu installed Ahmadu Musa Kida, another oil industry veteran, as board chairman.
The intention was clear: inject private-sector discipline into the country’s most powerful state-owned enterprise, strip it of political interference, and prepare it for a public listing in line with the PIA’s commercial orientation.
However, even before the ink on Ojulari’s appointment letter dried, old rivalries and new allegations began to swirl, threatening not only the reform mandate but also the credibility of the PIA itself. Beneath the surface of reform, a collision of personalities and interests is brewing, threatening not just the GCEO’s vision but the integrity of the PIA itself.
The Power Rift – GCEO vs. GCOO
At the centre of the storm brewing at the NNPC is an alleged clash of personalities and priorities between Ojulari, the GCEO and Roland Ewubare, the Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO) of the company.
Central to the unfolding leadership saga is the half-hearted implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, particularly in the appointment of the GCOO, a role the law does not mention at all.
Before Roland Ewubare joined the NNPC as GCOO, he had built an impressive career across the energy and legal sectors. As a trained lawyer and graduate of Harvard Law School, Ewubare began his professional journey in the United States, where he worked with top law firms and Schlumberger, a global oilfield services giant, as Global Corporate Counsel, before returning to Nigeria. His strong reputation paved the way for his appointment as Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and later elevated to NNPC’s top executive management as COO before he abruptly walked away from NNPCL five years ago amid swirling rumours, ranging from health concerns to executive fallout.
In April, Ewubare staged a rare return to the NNPCL as GCOO in what former Delta State Finance Commissioner Olorogun Bernard Okumagba hailed as “a testament to his strategic vision and operational depth.” During his peak days, Ewubare wielded considerable influence at NNPC as GGM NAPIMS and later as COO. It was said about him that he possessed an impressive corporate career portfolio from working with different institutions across a diverse range of industries.
Ojulari, on the other hand, carved out a distinguished career within the private oil and gas sector before he was appointed GCEO of NNPC Ltd by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in April. A petroleum engineer by training, Ojulari rose through the ranks at Shell Nigeria, holding various technical and leadership positions over three decades. He served as Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), where he led major deepwater oil and gas projects, including the Bonga field operations, and championed innovations in offshore exploration. His track record in project execution, stakeholder engagement, and operational efficiency made him a strong candidate for the GCEO role at NNPC Ltd, despite the controversies that would later emerge over his appointment.
Of the two personalities, if public-sector leadership, policy expertise, and governance reforms are weighed, Ewubare arguably has the edge. However, if technical depth, project delivery, and international oil company experience are considered, Ojulari’s portfolio appears stronger.
Sources within the NNPC have spoken about the strong portfolio of both men and the ideological fracture lines: Ojulari, determined to install merit-based promotions via interviews, was pitted against entrenched figures wielding customary seniority-based advancement. This rupture and resistance to his reforms by those feeling marginalised have intensified the climate of internal tension.
Their relationship, insiders say, may have soured quickly after Ojulari assumed the helm of affairs. Early in his tenure, senior executives began to resign or were unceremoniously forced out. In one notorious incident on June 10, Ojulari allegedly had Ewubare’s office locked without notice, a symbolic and provocative gesture that sent shockwaves through NNPC’s leadership floors. Within NNPC, Ojulari’s leadership style has reportedly created a climate of fear. Recently, a coalition had highlighted a purported resignation of senior officials, including Ewubare, and the June 10, 2025, incident where Ojulari allegedly locked Ewubare’s office, sparking widespread panic among staff.
“Ojulari’s authoritarianism is driving away talent and destroying morale,” said Comrade Ibrahim Musa, the National Coordinator, Coalition of Nigerian Patriots for Good Governance. “He claims to be untouchable, hiding behind the President’s name, but we know President Tinubu would not condone this abuse of power.”
The PIA 2021 Deviation
Central to the unfolding leadership saga is the alleged half-hearted implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 in the appointment of key executives of the company. The PIA was supposed to create a commercially driven NNPC Ltd, insulated from political meddling, and the path toward public listing was to be built on clarity and accountability.
Section 59(2) authorises the President to reorganise NNPC Ltd.’s board and management team, including the removal and appointment of its members for the purpose of improving operational efficiency, boosting investor confidence, promoting local content, and advancing gas commercialisation, among other reform objectives.
Under the Act’s governance framework for NNPC Limited (NNPC): Section 58–59 establishes that NNPC must have a Board, whose composition is clearly defined in Section 59 (2) to include: A non-executive chairman, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NNPC (also referred to as the Group CEO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), among others. Section 59 (3) specifies that the person appointed as CEO must possess “extensive managerial, technical and professional knowledge in the petroleum or other relevant industry with at least 15 years post-qualification experience”.
These sections clearly outline the structure and eligibility for the CEO role, but make no mention of a COO or GCOO role at all, which Mr. Ewubare is currently occupying. Other analysts posit that, though the position of GCOO is not legislated in the Act, NNPC is at liberty to introduce this position internally as part of its organisational structure. For example, Ewubare’s appointment as GCOO in April 2025 followed the restructuring led by President Tinubu, but this was a company-level decision and not something mandated by law.
Critics, however, point to at least another deviation in practice: the appointment of a Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR) representative on the board who did not meet the PIA’s requirement for being at least at the rank of a director. That was deemed to contravene Section 59(2)(d), illustrating that not all appointments have been in full compliance with the Act’s terms.
Thus, while the PIA carved the highway toward reform, the unfolding drama suggests that, at NNPC Ltd, too many are navigating via rumoured shortcuts, dragging the company and the law off course.
Scandals on Multiple Fronts
Within months, Ojulari’s reforms ignited fierce backlash from public-interest groups and civil society. By late June, the Coalition of Nigerian Patriots for Good Governance raised alarms over a N5.7 billion consultancy contract awarded to a little-known firm, Haske, with no competitive bidding or credible track record, according to a publication by the Guardian newspaper.
“Millions have been spent to make these refineries functional, yet Ojulari shut them down without a technical audit…” National Coordinator of the coalition, Ibrahim Musa, lamented in a press conference, adding that “His reckless leadership… is a clear and present danger to Nigeria’s economic recovery.”
By late July, a coalition including OilWatch Nigeria, Workers’ Rights Alliance, and Concerned Citizens protested in Abuja, demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of Ojulari over a $21 million scandal. The groups claimed that a close associate of the GCEO confessed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the money, equivalent to N34.65 billion, was not his but allegedly belonged to Ojulari.
“This is not a mere financial discrepancy. This amount could transform infrastructure, health and education in this country,” the group said, announcing a three-day protest from August 1, 2025, at the National Assembly, NNPCL headquarters and EFCC offices in Abuja.
The EFCC soon stepped in, reportedly interrogating Ojulari three times within two weeks. Investigators were reported to have probed whether NNPC Ltd funds had been diverted to benefit Bashir Haske, a businessman and son-in-law to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. Questions arose about suspicious cash transfers, private jet flights, and luxury vehicles allegedly provided to curry favour. These inquiries suggested not merely procedural lapses, but systemic abuse of office that undermined the spirit of reform Tinubu had promised.
These swirling scandals, combined with ongoing protests, created a crescendo of pressure, with insiders reportedly confirming that some at the Presidency were uneasy over Ojulari’s independent streak and political entanglements.
In late August, a Coalition of Niger Delta Youth leaders staged a protest at the NNPCL Towers in Abuja, with a call on the GCEO to quit over alleged corruption and mismanagement. The protester, carrying banners with different inscriptions calling for the appointment of an indigene of the Niger Delta region as the GCEO of the NNPCL.
Meanwhile, other voices, organisations like HURIWA and CGGCI, rallied behind Ojulari, praising his anti-corruption instincts, real-time systems and fuel-queue reduction efforts; they described attacks against him as politically motivated obstructionists resisting reform.
Cleaning House or Burning Bridges?
Amid the chaos, Ojulari and reform-minded allies like CFO Adedapo Segun, EVPs Isiyaku Abdullahi (Downstream) and Udobong Ntia (Upstream), pressed forward on the transformation mandate. By August 2025, reports praised surges in transparency, increased oil output (from 1.2 mbpd to 1.8 mbpd), resumed monthly reporting after three years, and steady refinery revival in Warri and Port Harcourt.
According to a renowned professor of energy economics, Prof. Wumi Iledare, every step forward made by the current leadership is worth celebrating!
“NNPC Limited has recorded N20 trillion income in only four months, a truly transformative milestone. This achievement reflects a mindset anchored on transparency, accountability, and visionary leadership. Congratulations to the Board and Management for showing what is possible when purpose meets performance!”
Still, others saw the 100-day “scorecard” as a thin veneer: social media users derided the accomplishments, pointing to persistent fuel queues, barely a dent in refinery underperformance, and a Senate probe into N210 trillion of unaccounted assets and liabilities (2017–2023), with Ojulari seeking more time to respond.
Reform’s Cost and the Road Ahead
Four months on the job, Ojulari finds himself between two forces: on one side, a mandate to unfetter NNPC from decades of mismanagement; on the other, the gravitational pull of entrenched interests, political alliances, and public suspicion.
If NNPC Ltd is to emerge as a credible, transparent, investor-friendly company, it must grapple with internal resistance, political entanglements, and the perception that money and power still trump principle.
For Ojulari, defining his legacy involves not just restoring production or attracting capital but aligning NNPCL’s redemption with the letter and spirit of PIA 2021, and ensuring the reforms survive more than just the headlines.