By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Special Adviser the Vice-President, Mr Kashim Shettima, on Political Matters, Mr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has resigned.

The elder brother to the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr Datti Baba-Ahmed, resigned from his position amid growing political tensions with the Minister of State for Defence, Mr Bello Matawalle.

The two personalities have been at loggerheads over political situation in the country, especially as regards the northern part of the country.

Before joining the government of President Bola Tinubu in 2023, the older Baba-Ahmed was the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).

About 12 months ago, Mr Matawalle described NEF as a “political paperweight” for claiming that the northern region regretted voting for Mr Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

In his reaction, Mr Baba-Ahmed asked Mr Matawalle to inform the world how he and other northern appointees have been productive rather than attacking the NEF.

Not happy with this, the Minister said it was the duty of all appointees, including Baba-Ahmed, to defend and promote the administration they served.

He emphasized that the role of northern appointees was to support President Tinubu’s government and advance its objectives, or consider stepping down if they could not align with the administration.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria has won the chairmanship spot for the anglophone countries committee of African data protection body, the Network of Africa Data Protection Authorities (NADPA).

Consequently, the National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Mr Vincent Olatunji, has been appointed the chair of the committee.

This appointment was confirmed at the meeting of the Committee on Wednesday, April, 2 2025, according to a statement signed by Mr Babatunde Bamigboye, the Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulations at the NDPC.

The NADPA committee serves as a multilateral platform for promoting data privacy and protection among members.

The appointment of the NDPC helmsman is a result of the contributions of the commission, led by Mr Olatunji, to the Anglophone Countries Committee and the Network of African Data Protection Authorities.

The statement added that it also reflects the organisation’s achievements following the enactment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.

While accepting the appointment, Mr Olatunji expressed his gratitude for the confidence reposed in Nigeria to chair the committee at this crucial phase of Africa’s drive towards safeguarding the privacy rights of her over 1.4 billion people in the global data processing value chain.

Mr Olatunji further urged members to see the work of the Committee as a collective responsibility which must be discharged for the benefit of data subjects across Africa.

It will be recalled that Nigeria is also scheduled to host the 2025 NADPA Annual General Meeting and Conference from May 6-8, 2025.

The theme of the Conference is: “Balancing Innovation in Africa: Data Protection and Privacy in Emerging Technologies and is targeted at showcasing the significant milestones of Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu towards building a sustainable digital economy.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

President Bola Tinubu has removed Mt Mele Kyari as the chief executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, replacing him with Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari in line with the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.

In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday, it was also revealed that Mr Pius Akinyelure is no longer the chairman of the NNPC board as he has been replaced by Ahmadu Musa Kida.

According to the statement, Mr Tinubu reconstituted the 11-man NNPC board, which came into being on November 2023, to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boost local content, drive economic growth, and advance gas commercialisation and diversification.

President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.

 Since 2023, the Mr Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

His administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board, whose appointment became effective today, to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.

Business Post reports that Mr Adedapo Segun, who replaced Mr Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.

Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.

Mr Austin Avuru is a non-executive director from the South-South, Mr David Ige is a non-executive director from the South West, and Mr Henry Obih is a non-executive director from the South East.

Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

The new board chairman is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris

On his part, Mr Ojulari hails from Kwara State. Until his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.

His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.