Ojulari surfaces at public function

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Bashir Ojulari, made a public appearance yesterday following speculation of his sack/resignation  during the weekend. Ojualari attended the annual conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (Nigeria Council) in Lagos but attended on zoom. A video shared to Daily Trust by […]

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Bashir Ojulari, made a public appearance yesterday following speculation of his sack/resignation  during the weekend.

Ojualari attended the annual conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (Nigeria Council) in Lagos but attended on zoom.

A video shared to Daily Trust by a participant of the event showed Ojulari delivering a message via zoom. He was one of the keynote speakers at the event.

It would be recalled that there had been widespread speculation on the sack of the GCEO by the presidency due to some malfeasance he was alleged to have committed.

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However, there were also reports that he had voluntarily resigned.

While there has been no official communication from the presidency or the company, his last official function was a town hall meeting with staff of the company at the NNPCL towers in Abuja, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

Sources at the NNPCL also confirmed he reported to the office yesterday around 9.35am.

A security source familiar with the matter told Daily Trust that it was not true Ojulari had resigned from his post.

“Meanwhile, staff have been asked via internal memo to disregard news circulating on the social media regarding his purported resignation,” the security source stated, but did not give further details as to where Ojulari was and why he resurfaced yesterday.

Appointed on April 2, 2025 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as part of a sweeping overhaul of the company’s board and management, Ojulari has, over the past five months, remained largely inaccessible to the Nigerian media.

The company’s communication challenges were compounded by the sudden resignation of its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, on June 21, 2025. Since then, the Corporate Communications Department has had no publicly designated head, making it nearly impossible to obtain official responses on company matters.

Since the online reports of Ojulari’s alleged resignation broke, all inquiries to staff of the department have gone unanswered.

Over the years, access to the NNPC Towers, which houses both the company and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, has become increasingly restricted to journalists.

Visitors are now required to present a physical invitation note, and even then, entry is denied unless their names are submitted in advance to security at the gate. This has made it even more difficult for the media to gain access to the premises.

Access cannot even be granted to journalists into the vast compound unless the officer who invites the journalists speaks to the security agents at the gate.

The resignation of Soneye and the inability of Ojulari to appoint another spokesman before now have effectively blocked access to journalists into the company.

 

What Ojulari said at the event

Ojulari at the event called on Nigeria and other African countries to chart their course in the global energy transition by embracing technology, building cross-border alliances, and investing in human capital development.

He said there is the need to recognise that the future of energy is neither linear nor pre-determined but shaped by the decisions made and how governments intentionally engage, strategically invest, and boldly embrace innovations.

According to him, the oil and gas industry must be repositioned as the cornerstone of a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient energy future. He said, “Energy must be repositioned as an inclusive energy future.”

He warned against adopting externally imposed transition models, stating, “Energy transition must not be imposed; it must be contextualised, just, and negotiated.

Ojulari explained that Africa faces complex, interrelated challenges, including climate change, capital flight, technology gaps, and supply disruptions, which, according to him, cannot be effectively tackled in isolation.

He stressed the need for collective solutions and dialogue, adding that “We need to deepen alliances across regional lines.

Highlighting areas critical to net-zero goals, he listed carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), hydrogen, AI-driven exploration, smart grids, and modular/mobile gas solutions.

“Such innovation must be embraced not as buzz words but as strategic enablers that will allow us to achieve our net zero target without compromising energy access for industrial and residential purposes.”

He added that Nigeria and Africa will require massive investments to meet growing energy needs, large resources and infrastructure will be required to quench the energy thirst of Nigeria and Africa.

Ojulari said, “We have ourselves at a critical inflection point where the imperative of energy security, environmental sustainability, and economic development must be reconciled.”