Press Release
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Taskforce to design and coordinate the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
This was disclosed this in a statement on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the taskforce will be chaired by Fola Adeola, who is expected to coordinate the group’s activities and ensure the timely delivery of its mandate.
Other members of the taskforce include Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye and Seyi Bella, while Mofoluwasho Fadayomi will serve as secretary.
The taskforce is a time-bound, high-level executive working group mandated to produce implementation-ready reform blueprints aimed at consolidating ongoing reforms, unlocking capital within the petroleum sector, and strengthening Nigeria’s position as a leading global energy investment destination.
According to the presidency, the initiative underscores President Tinubu’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s petroleum industry into a more competitive, transparent, and value-driven sector capable of supporting long-term economic growth, macroeconomic stability and industrial development.
The taskforce will operate as a technical reform body rather than a representative committee, engaging industry operators, regulators, investors and civil society organisations as consultees while focusing on practical policy design and implementation strategies.
It will report directly to the President and submit monthly progress memoranda, with an interim report expected within three months and the final report to be delivered within six months of its inauguration.
Among its key deliverables is an Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes, which will include draft legislative amendments, executive instruments and proposals for institutional restructuring within the sector.
Another major output is the Capital and Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, designed to unlock between $5 billion and $10 billion in sectoral liquidity while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.
The third deliverable is a National Energy Transformation Strategy, a ten-year roadmap that will set measurable targets for crude oil production, foreign exchange earnings, contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and overall cost competitiveness in the energy sector.
President Tinubu also directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, regulators and other relevant institutions to provide full technical support to the taskforce and submit inventories of ongoing initiatives to ensure alignment with the emerging reform framework.
The President further instructed all existing committees, teams and working groups created under previous reform initiatives in the petroleum sector to align their activities, reporting structures and work programmes with the new taskforce to avoid duplication and ensure policy coherence.
The presidency noted that the taskforce will automatically dissolve upon the submission and acceptance of its final report.
The move, according to the statement, is expected to strengthen governance structures in the petroleum industry, optimise Nigeria’s energy resources and accelerate reforms aimed at positioning the sector as a key driver of sustainable economic transformation.
Leave a comment