President Tinubu Did Not Sack Mele Kyari Because Of His Age – FG

President Bola Tinubu sacked Mele Kyari and other board members of the NNPC because of their failure to meet key production targets, FG has said.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga recently revealed this to the press, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, all other board members appointed alongside Pius Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023 have been kicked out, and the new 11-man board has Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Musa Ahmadu-Kida as non-executive chairman.

An official added that age was not the reason Kyari was removed because NNPC is not governed by civil service rules.

His words, “President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Pius Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

The new 11-man board has Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Musa Ahmadu-Kida as non-executive chairman.”

A FG official added, “The President did this because of their performance because we needed to do things differently. The former people were taking us in circles, and then some of them became part of the problem.

There needs to be a new direction. You need new people to bring new energy into the system.

Look at them. Every one of them is capable. They are core industry professionals, real industry experts who know the industry inside and out. They are not politicians. This is the first time we have an entire cast of technocrats.”

Another official said, “It is not about (Kyari’s) age. The NNPCL is a limited liability company and is not governed by civil service rules. So, it’s not about his age. There is always a need to get new brains that can deliver in new directions. The President has his mandate, which is clearly stated in the statement. He gave them his performance metrics, such as the amount of crude we produce. He asked them to review all blocks because we want to know which ones are producing and which are not.

We have to optimise those that are not producing. He wants them to review all our assets within a certain period and give us good production. By 2030, they must be producing 3,000,000 barrels per day, and between now and 2027, we must stabilise at 2,000,000 per day. Then, gas, we must produce 10 billion cubic meters between now and 2030. These are performance metrics, and that is how it should be done.

But the former system was not giving us that. They have been around the same spot for years. Our OPEC quota has not improved much since 1973. We have not been able to meet them. That is why reforms are important.”

WOW.