The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Task Force aimed at designing and coordinating the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
The State House announced that the task force will serve as a high-level executive working group responsible for producing execution-ready reform blueprints to consolidate ongoing changes in the sector, unlock capital, and strengthen the country’s position as a major global energy investment destination.
The Co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank and founder of FATE Foundation, Tajudeen Fola-Adeola, has been appointed chairman of the task force. In his role, he will coordinate the group’s activities and ensure the timely delivery of its mandate.
Other members of the task force include Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye and Seyi Bella. Mofoluwasho Fadayomi will serve as secretary.
According to the statement released by the presidency, the task force is a time-bound technical reform body that will engage industry operators, regulators, investors and civil society as consultees while focusing primarily on actionable policy design and implementation strategies.
The group will report directly to the President and provide monthly progress memoranda. An interim report is expected after three months, while the final report will be submitted within six months of inauguration.
The presidency said the task force is expected to deliver three major reform blueprints. The first is an Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes, which will include draft legislative amendments, executive instruments and proposals for institutional restructuring.
The second is the Capital and Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, designed to unlock between $5 billion and $10 billion in liquidity within the petroleum sector while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.
The third deliverable is a National Energy Transformation Strategy, a ten-year roadmap that will outline measurable targets for production levels, foreign exchange earnings, contribution to GDP and cost competitiveness.
President Tinubu has also directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as regulators and other relevant institutions, to provide full technical support to the task force. They are required to submit inventories of ongoing initiatives to ensure alignment with the new reform framework.
In addition, the President ordered that all existing committees and working groups established under various reform initiatives within the petroleum sector align their activities, reporting structures and work programmes with the new task force to avoid duplication and ensure coordinated implementation.
The presidency stressed that the creation of the task force is intended to strengthen governance in the petroleum industry, optimise national energy assets and position Nigeria’s petroleum resources as a foundation for sustainable economic transformation.
The task force will automatically dissolve after submitting its final report and upon acceptance of its recommendations by the President.
