By Adedapo Adesanya
The newly appointed board and management team for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has pledged to produce two million barrels of crude oil daily from 2024.
Speaking on Monday, the new Non-Executive Board Chairman of NNPC, Mr Pius Akinyelure, after the inauguration, promised that the board would overhaul the security architecture of the agency to curb incidents of stealing and vandalisation of pipelines.
“We have just concluded our inauguration ceremony by Mr President and we have assured him of our collective efforts to turn around the fortune of the oil and gas.
“To make it a company that we will all be proud of and a company that will help sustain the economy and make sure we create some element of prosperity for Nigerians,” he said.
Nigeria currently averages 1.45 million barrels per day, according to the most recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
He revealed that the President had assured the new board of his support to enable them to discharge their mandate diligently and effectively.
“He (President) has assured us of his support and on our own part too, we have given him our one 100 per cent assurance.
“We will do the best we can to make sure that the key performance in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria probably will become number one in Africa and probably compete with the leading oil and gas industry around the world.
“It is not an easy task but we know we had the challenge of oil stealing, vandalisation of our pipelines.
“Our commitment is to produce at the rate of two million barrels per day anytime from next year.
“But to do this, we have to overhaul our security architecture, so that the incidences of stealing, vandalisation of pipelines can be reduced.
“This will possibly help to keep all our cash book and we will become a better nation,” Mr Akinyelure said.
President Tinubu recently approved the appointment of a new Board and Management team for NNPC Limited with effect from December 1.
According to the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, who made the announcement, said the appointment was in compliance with Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
The appointees are Mr Pius Akinyelure — Non-Executive Board Chairman, Mr Mele Kyari — Group Chief Executive Officer, and Umar Ajiya — Chief Financial Officer.
Others are Mr Ledum Mitee — Non-Executive Director, Mr Musa Tumsa — Non-Executive Director, and Mr Ghali Muhammad — Non-Executive Director.
The rest are Mr Mustapha Aliyu — Non-Executive Director, Mr David Ogbodo — Non-Executive Director, and Mrs Eunice Thomas — Non-Executive Director.
