The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has removed the managing directors of its three state-owned refineries as part of a major organisational shake-up.
Sources within the company confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday that the managing directors of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) have been relieved of their duties.
Those affected include Ibrahim Onoja of PHRC, Efifia Chu of WRPC, and Mustafa Sugungun of KRPC. In addition to these changes, all management staff with less than one year until retirement have been directed to proceed on exit.
Also affected by the shake-up are Bala Wunti, the former Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) who recently became the Chief Health, Safety, and Environment Officer at NNPC Ltd, and Lawal Sade, the company’s Chief Compliance Officer and former Managing Director of NNPC Trading.
“Replacements for the affected officials have not yet been officially announced,” a senior NNPC official told PREMIUM TIMES, emphasizing that the move is part of a broader reorganisation effort rather than a purge of loyalists linked to the former Group Chief Executive Officer.
Earlier this month, President Bola Tinubu dissolved the NNPC Ltd board, including the removal of the former GCEO Mele Kyari and board chairman Pius Akinyelure. The president subsequently appointed Bayo Ojulari as the new GCEO and Ahmadu Kida as the new non-executive chairman.
Following these changes, NNPC Ltd also announced the appointment of an eight-member senior management team. The company stated that the new appointments took immediate effect, marking a new phase of leadership aimed at repositioning the national oil company.
