‘Your Leadership At NNPC Ltd Characterized By Outstanding Commitment To Transparency, Service Delivery’ — Matawalle Felicitate Kyari On His Birthday

The Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle on Monday felicitated with the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Malam Mele Kyari, on his 59th birthday.

The Minister described Kyari’s leadership at the NNPC Limited as one characterized by outstanding vision in commitment to efficiency, openness, transparency and prudence in service delivery geared at attaining the objectives of the company and meeting the expectations of shareholders.

He said in a statement that under the leadership of Kyari, the NNPC Limited and its joint venture partners have continued to contribute to poverty reduction, economic and social development.

According to Matawalle, “Malam Mele Kyari’s leadership at the NNPCL as its 19th Chief Executive has been largely characterised by outstanding vision in commitment to efficiency, openness, transparency and prudence in service delivery geared at attaining the objectives of the company and meeting the expectations of shareholders.

“The NNPCL and its joint venture partners under his leadership have continued to contribute to poverty reduction, economic and social development.”

“Let me commend Malam Mele Kyari and his team for what they are doing to improve on the operations of the NNPCL.

“Kyari has continued to demonstrate transparency and accountability in his leadership as GCEO of NNPCL. I join your family, colleagues at NNPCL, industry players, associates and friends to thank Almighty God for your life which has been marked by remarkable outstanding accomplishments.”

The Minister added that, “it is my prayer that God continues to bless you with robust health and many more years of happiness and contributions to nation building.”

Some of Kyari’s key achievements as NNPC Limited GCEO include:
• Transforming NNPC from a loss-making company to a profitable one, with the company declaring its first ever Profit After Tax of N287bn in 2020. This rose to N674bn in 2021, and is expected to hit N2trn in 2022.
• Boosting crude oil production to cross 1.7 million barrels per day in September 2022, regaining Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest producer ahead of Algeria and Angola. This was achieved through efforts to curb crude oil theft and illegal refining.
• Launching the Kolmani Integrated Development Project to commence commercial oil production from the North. The project has capacity to produce 2 billion cubic feet of gas daily.
• Leading the enactment of the PIA in 2021, unbundling NNPC and giving birth to the commercially oriented NNPC Limited. This opened opportunities for reforms and investments.
• Acquiring downstream assets like OVH Energy and Oando fuel stations to make NNPC a major player. The OVH deal added 240,000MT of capacity and LPG, lube and aviation facilities.
• Sealing the acquisition of 20% shares in Dangote Refinery in 2021 to secure energy supply. This is in line with expansion into the downstream sector.
• Reducing the cost of AKK gas pipeline contract by $300 million through contract renegotiation, from $2.8 billion to $2.5 billion.
• Securing $3 billion emergency loan from Afreximbank in 2022 to defend the Naira and stabilize forex market. The funds will be repaid from future oil production.
• Attracting $7 billion fresh investment from India in 2022 for Nigeria’s petrochemical industry, creating jobs and revenues.