President says oil company’s planned transformation will deepen transparency and unlock new opportunities as NNPC targets stock market listing by 2028……
President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to reform the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and ultimately list the state-owned oil giant on the capital market.
Tinubu disclosed this on Friday when he received the leadership of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) at the State House in Abuja.
The NGX delegation was led by its Chairman, Umaru Kwairanga, and Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Temi Popoola.
Speaking during the meeting, the President said the planned transformation of NNPC would form part of the broader economic reforms being pursued by his administration.
“The NNPC will be reformed and listed in the capital market,” Tinubu said.
The announcement signals the administration’s intention to move the national oil company further towards a commercially driven structure while opening the company to the capital market.
Tinubu’s announcement comes less than a month after NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed that the company was working towards a stock market listing by 2028.
Ojulari had said on July 12 that NNPC was developing a roadmap for the planned listing and working with industry stakeholders to transform the national oil company into a limited liability company.
“With collaborations of our industry players, we will be the catalyst in the transformation of the national oil company to a limited liability company,” Ojulari said.
He added that the company had a roadmap aimed at achieving a listing by 2028.
According to the NNPC chief executive, the company had already made “considerable progress” towards creating what he described as a stable and secure business environment in Nigeria.
The proposed listing would potentially give investors an opportunity to participate in the country’s national oil company while subjecting the business to greater capital market scrutiny and commercial discipline.
During his meeting with the NGX leadership, Tinubu also pointed to what he described as encouraging economic indicators and positive assessments from economic experts as evidence that Nigeria’s economic outlook was improving.
He said the developments offered reasons for optimism about the country’s future and the prospects for Nigerians.
The President’s comments come as his administration continues to push reforms across key areas of the economy, including energy, taxation and public finance.
Also speaking during the NGX delegation’s visit, the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, highlighted the removal of the petrol subsidy as a major turning point in the government’s economic reform programme.
Adedeji said the decision created the foundation for addressing economic distortions that had affected Nigeria for decades.
He described the decision to remove the subsidy shortly after Tinubu took office as a critical step behind the changes currently being recorded in the economy.
According to him, the President’s decision to remove the subsidy less than an hour after taking the oath of office demonstrated the political will required to tackle longstanding economic problems.
He described the move as “the bedrock, background, and fundamental of the changes we are seeing.”
The Federal Government’s latest position on NNPC comes as the company prepares for what could be one of the most significant structural changes in its history, with a potential 2028 listing expected to place its commercial performance under greater scrutiny from investors and the wider capital market.
