Abuja, Nigeria – Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the creation of a presidential task force charged with designing the next phase of structural reforms in the country’s petroleum industry.
The group will operate as a technical body and is expected to deliver its final outputs within six months.
Okay News reports that Fola Adeola, co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank and chairman of the Fate Foundation, a Nigerian entrepreneurship nonprofit, will lead the task force as chairman.
Other members include Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye and Seyi Bella. Mofoluwasho Fadayomi will serve as secretary.
The task force will report directly to President Tinubu and submit monthly progress updates. An interim report is due after three months, with the complete reform framework expected by the six-month mark.
Three major deliverables are expected from the group. The first is a toolkit for immediate structural fixes, covering draft legislation, executive instruments and institutional restructuring. The second is a capital and liquidity blueprint aimed at unlocking between $5 billion and $10 billion in investment within Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
The third deliverable is a ten-year national energy transformation strategy with measurable targets for oil production, foreign exchange earnings and economic output. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but the sector has long been hampered by underinvestment, fuel subsidy costs and weak refining capacity.
President Tinubu has directed all government ministries, agencies and existing reform committees to align their work with the new task force and share relevant documentation. The directive is intended to eliminate overlap and create a unified reform structure.
The task force will automatically dissolve once its final report is submitted and accepted by the president.
