The Board of Directors and Management of Seplat Energy Plc has announced the appointment of Fabian Ajogwu and Bello Rabiu as Independent Non-Executive Directors of the Company with effect from today.
Seplat Energy in a notice filed at the Nigerian Exchange also said that Damian Dodo, and Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, both Independent Non-Executive Directors, retired from the Board of the Company.
Dodo, was appointed to the Board in March 2014 while Lord Malloch-Brown was appointed in February 2014. For the past seven years, both Directors diligently served the Board and made significant contributions towards the growth of the Company during their tenure.
Commenting on the retirement of the Directors, the Chairman of the Board said, “Seplat Energy was very privileged to have had such seasoned intellectuals who made significant contributions to the growth of the Company. We remain grateful to Dodo and Lord Malloch-Brown for sharing their wealth of knowledge and vast experiences with the Board and the Company and we wish them the best in their future endeavors”.
On the appointment of the new Independent Non-Executive Directors, the notice said “Fabian Ajogwu is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Lagos Business School Professor of Corporate Governance. He is an Alumnus of the Said Business School of Oxford University, and an Alumnus of the Lagos Business School. Ajogwu holds a doctorate in Law from University of Aberdeen, Scotland; an MBA from the IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona; and Law degrees from the University of Nigeria, and the University of Lagos.
“Ajogwu is a Fellow and Director of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria; a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative West Africa, Henry Crown Global Leadership of the Aspen Institute (2009 Class set), Fellow of the AIFA Reading Society, Fellow of the Society for Art Collection, a member of the Oxford Philosophical Society, and a member of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, London
“Ajogwu assisted the Securities and Exchange Commission in drafting Nigeria’s pioneer Code of Corporate Governance from 2001 to 2003. He chaired the Nigerian Communications Commission Committee on Corporate Governance between 2013 and 2014 that produced the pioneer NCC Code of Corporate Governance for the Telecommunication sector. He served on the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Committee on the 2018 National Code of Corporate Governance. He chairs the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria Committee on Continuing Legal Education.
“Bello Rabiu holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mathematical Statistics from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria and another Master’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering from The Imperial College, London, United Kingdom. He attended many career advancements courses in Nigeria and abroad including the prestigious Wharton Executive Development Program from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA and Leading Global Business Program from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.
“Before his new role at Dankiri Farms, Rabiu retired from the services of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in July 2019 after 28 years of service. He retired from NNPC as the Chief Operating Officer/Group Executive Director, Upstream Business Unit. Prior to his appointment as COO/GED Upstream, NNPC. Rabiu held dual positions of Group General Manager, Corporate Planning & Strategy Division and Senior Technical Assistant to Group Managing Director, NNPC. He was also the General Manager, Competitive Analysis Department of the same Division from September 2010 till August 11th, 2015. He was at various times between 1991 and 2005 a planning officer and Pioneer Head, Material Management, Frontier Exploration Services at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, Division of NNPC.
“Rabiu has a balanced knowledge of the Exploration & Production industry in Nigeria. He has the unusual capability which combines commercial/fiscal knowledge with operations. This was particularly valuable in the development of the recently approved upstream Joint Venture funding scheme which has restored the confidence of the International Oil Companies, IOCs, Partners and the implementation of the 7 Critical Gas Development Projects, an offshoot of Nigerian Gas Master Plan aimed at using gas for Nigeria’s industrialization, economic growth and development – where significant consideration had to be given to strategic intent, fiscal rules and commerciality of supply.”
Commenting on the appointments, the Chairman of SEPLAT Energy, A. B. C. Orjiako said, “The Board of SEPLAT Energy is pleased to welcome, Ajogwu and Rabiu. These two prominent intellectuals bring vast knowledge in important areas such as the energy sector, corporate and business governance, industry regulation, and capital markets. SEPLAT Energy looks forward to the immense contribution they will make towards its continuing global success.”
The company added that in line with the corporate governance principle of refreshing the Board intermittently through an appropriate balance of skills and diversity, it is hereby stated that the search for the replacement for Lord Mark Malloch-Brown is still ongoing and would be announced in due course.
