TINUBU RUNNING NIGERIA'S OIL & GAS INDUSTRY ON EXECUTIVE ORDERS WILL FURTHER SCARE AWAY FOREIGN INVESTORS
-Zik Gbemre
I hear people debating the merits and demerits of his new executive orders. They say it will check corruption and leakages. I'm not interested. It's anti-investment drive to see President Bola Tinubu now drifted into running Nigeria's oil and gas industry on Executive Orders.
Who does that? Despite the exuberance and bragging by non oil sector players, Nigeria still survives primarily on the oil and gas income.
For a President globetrotting in self mockery in the guise of campaigning for Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs), who's going to come to commit his hard currency and machinery into an already volatile Nigerian business terrain of unstable policies now escalated by Executive Orders.
That's a huge red flag for investors. The nation's oil industry is guided by a Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)and sundry regulatory statutes. If there are inadequacies in the law, the President has the leverage to call for NASS adjustments. The recourse to Executive Order is anti development.
Running the oil and gas industry on Executive Orders euphemism for compromising the law and running the industry at the whims and caprices of the President.
Such careless approach is dangerous and capable of scaring same foreign investors Tinubu is hopping from one country to another to beg to invest in volatile Nigeria.
Executive orders we know are only necessary in emergency situations and interventions.
Tinubu is drifted into an absolute ruler and he should watch it.
Foreign Investors will believe the President could just wake up one morning and give Executive Orders that will threaten their investments. The Nigerian economy is run with funds from the Petroleum industry.
The finances from oil and gas is what is being used to run Abuja and states of the federation and such orders are dangerous to economic advancement.
Why can't the federal gov't direct oil and gas companies to be operated by the companies that bought Shell interests during shell's divestment without involvement of NNPCL and NEPL?
Why can't the Tinubu correct the operational anomaly in OML 34. That is the only OML where the lead private investor who bought Shell divested assets as operator status is not allowed to solely manage the operations.
Instead NNPC through NEPL is imposed as joint operator. NEPL that can't viably manage any field on their own. No where else is this joint operation done across the operating space and NEPL's incompetence and ineptitude is creating problems for the OML 34.
Ask NEPL to hands off the operations of OML 34 to ND Western Ltd to stop the undue interference of creating setback in the operations of that OML.
This is the kind of challenge which Tinubu should intervene to sanitise the country and not scare foreign investors with disruptive and self-serving Executive Orders.
Zik Gbemre
February 25,2026
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