President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Taskforce to design and sequence the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, indicates that The Task Force has as chairperson the co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank and founder and chairman of the Fate Foundation, Mr Fola Adeola, who will coordinate the group’s work and ensure timely delivery of its mandate.
Other members of the Taskforce are Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye and Seyi Bella, while Mofoluwasho Fadayomi will serve as the Secretary.
As constituted, the Taskforce is a time-bound, high-level executive working group tasked with producing execution-ready reform blueprints that will consolidate ongoing reforms, unlock capital within the petroleum sector, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a leading global energy investment destination.
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Onanuga stated that the initiative reflected 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.
He clarified: “It 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.
“The Taskforce will report directly to the President and provide monthly progress memoranda. An interim report will be submitted after three months, while the final outputs are expected within six months of inauguration”, he added.
According to him, the President expects the Taskforce to deliver three major reform blueprints, namely the Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes, including draft legislative amendments, executive instruments, and institutional restructuring proposals; and the Capital & Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, aimed at unlocking $5–10 billion in sectoral liquidity while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.
The third deliverable will focus on the National Energy Transformation Strategy – a ten-year roadmap with measurable targets for production, foreign exchange earnings, GDP contribution, and cost competitiveness.
The Special Adviser confirmed that the President had directed all Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), regulators, and relevant institutions to provide full technical support to the Taskforce and to submit inventories of ongoing initiatives to ensure alignment with the emerging reform framework.
He expatiated that in furtherance of this directive, Tinubu also ordered 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.
Onanuga stated that the streamlining would ensure coordination, avoid duplication of mandates, and provide institutional clarity, thereby ensuring coherence in the petroleum sector reform architecture.
He also disclosed that the President also directed that all relevant documentation, institutional knowledge, and ongoing workstreams should be made available to the Taskforce to support the development and implementation of its comprehensive reform framework.
He stated: “The creation of the Taskforce represents 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”, adding that the Taskforce will automatically dissolve upon submission and acceptance of its final report.
