Tinubu appoints GTB co-founder Adeola to lead petroleum sector reform taskforce

President Bola Tinubu has established a Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Taskforce to design and sequence the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.

The President appointed Mr Fola Adeola, co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank and founder/chairman of the Fate Foundation, as chairman of the task force.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Friday disclosed that the task force would operate as a time-bound, high-level executive working group tasked with producing execution-ready reform blueprints.

Other members of the taskforce are Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye, and Seyi Bella, with Mofoluwasho Fadayomi serving as secretary.

According to the statement, the task force will consolidate ongoing reforms, unlock capital within the petroleum sector, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a leading global energy investment destination.

“The initiative reflects the President’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s petroleum industry into a more competitive, transparent, and value-maximising sector capable of driving long-term economic growth, macroeconomic resilience, and industrial development,” it read.

The taskforce will operate as a technical reform body rather than a representative committee, engaging industry operators, regulators, investors, and civil society as consultees while focusing on actionable policy design and implementation strategies.

It will report directly to the President and provide monthly progress memoranda, with an interim report expected after three months and final outputs within six months of inauguration.

Tinubu has directed the task force to deliver three major reform blueprints.

The first deliverable is the Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes, including draft legislative amendments, executive instruments, and institutional restructuring proposals.

The second deliverable is the Capital & Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, aimed at unlocking $5bn to $10bn in sectoral liquidity while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.

The third blueprint will focus on the National Energy Transformation Strategy, a 10-year roadmap with measurable targets for production, foreign exchange earnings, GDP contribution, and cost competitiveness.

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Tinubu has directed all Ministries, Departments, Agencies, regulators, and relevant institutions to provide full technical support to the task force and to submit inventories of ongoing initiatives to ensure alignment with the emerging reform framework.

The President also directed all existing committees, teams, and working groups established under various reform initiatives within the sector to align their activities, reporting structures, and work programmes with the new taskforce.

“The streamlining will ensure coordination, avoid duplication of mandates, and provide institutional clarity, thereby ensuring coherence in the petroleum sector reform architecture,” the statement noted.

The President further directed that all relevant documentation, institutional knowledge, and ongoing workstreams should be made available to the task force to support the development and implementation of its comprehensive reform framework.

Onanuga described the creation of the taskforce as “a strategic presidential instrument to accelerate petroleum sector reforms, strengthen governance architecture, optimise national energy assets, and position Nigeria’s petroleum resources as a foundation for sustainable economic transformation.”

The task force will automatically dissolve upon submission and acceptance of its final report.

Adeola, a chartered accountant and entrepreneur, co-founded Guaranty Trust Bank in 1990 and served as its pioneer managing director until 2002.

He established the Fate Foundation in 2000 to promote entrepreneurship and wealth creation in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s petroleum sector has undergone significant reforms under the Tinubu administration, including the removal of petrol subsidy, unification of foreign exchange windows, and efforts to increase crude oil production from one million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.