Payback Time for Pius Akinyelure
The change of administrative vestment at the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) has attracted a lot of attention in recent days. Among the reactions to the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari are excitement, envy and even contemplation. However, when most people consider that Chief Pius Akinyelure was retained as a board member, the reaction is usually astonishment at the fact that the man’s service to the nation and his party is paying off.
The reappointment of Akinyelure to the board of NNPC might not have come as a big surprise to those familiar with the company landscape. It is a reappointment, after all, and this is far more common than a fresh appointment. However, times are changing and as more influential figures drift into the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC), it would not be strange for them to do such new appointments as compensations or further incentives. Thus, Akinyelure keeping his position (from his original appointment in 2016) indicates that he is far more valued compared to his peers and likely to be even more valuable in the coming days.
For those in the know, Chief Akinyelure is not only a political figure but also one with the qualifications to occupy the chair in the NNPC boardroom.The man is not only a certified accountant, but he is also an oil industry technocrat with close to four decades of operative experience in the industry. In fact, he has walked the halls of ExxonMobil and retired as an Executive Director in Finance and External Relations. Even so, his career profile extends beyond the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry to other business and administrative interests and sceneries. Politics is one of these.
At the peak of his political career, Akinyelure is said to have been very close friends with some of the most influential figures in the country, including a former Governor of Lagos State, Senator and High Chieftain of the leading political party in the country. Moreover, between 2014 and 2018, Akinyelure was the NationalVice Chairman of APC in the South-West. Thus, his political feelers are long and far-reaching, the same with his years of service.
Perceptive folks chalk up Akinyelure’s reappointment to his devotion to his nation and his party. His commitment in the past has paid off—and continues to. Indeed, there’s no better time to be Chief Akinyelure.