President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed banking icon Fola Adeola, co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank, to chair the newly created Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Taskforce.
In a statement on Friday, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the task force will design and sequence the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
Adeola, who also founded the Fate Foundation, will lead the time-bound, high-level working group tasked with producing execution-ready reform blueprints.
Other members of the task force include 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 presidency, the task force will consolidate ongoing reforms, unlock capital in the petroleum sector and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a 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,” the statement said.
The task force 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 with monthly progress memoranda, an interim report after three months, and final outputs within six months of inauguration.
Tinubu has directed the group to produce three major reform blueprints:
- Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes, including draft legislative amendments, executive instruments and institutional restructuring proposals.
- Capital and Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, aimed at unlocking between $5 billion and $10 billion in sectoral liquidity while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.
- National Energy Transformation Strategy, a 10-year roadmap with measurable targets for production, foreign exchange earnings, GDP contribution and cost competitiveness.
The President also directed all ministries, departments, agencies and regulators in the sector to provide full technical support and align ongoing initiatives with the task force’s work.
Existing reform committees and working groups in the petroleum sector are to synchronise their reporting structures and programmes with the new body to avoid duplication and ensure policy coherence.
Onanuga described the task force as “a strategic presidential instrument to accelerate petroleum sector reforms, strengthen governance architecture and optimise national energy assets.”
The body will automatically dissolve after submitting and securing approval for 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 later established the Fate Foundation to promote entrepreneurship and wealth creation in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s petroleum sector has undergone significant policy shifts under Tinubu, including the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of foreign exchange windows, alongside efforts to raise crude oil production from about one million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.
