Seplat Energy appoints Omiyi to replace Orjiakor as chairman

Seplat Energy Plc has announced the appointment of Basil Omiyi as its new independent non-executive chairman. Mr Omiyi replaces A.B.C Orjiakor whose tenure ended Wednesday.

According to a notice published by the Nigerian Exchange on Thursday and seen by PREMIUM TIMES, Seplat also appointed Charles Okeantalam as the senior independent non-executive director of the firm, a role previously held by Mr Omiyi.

The oil and gas firm said the appointment was approved following a unanimous vote by all its directors in compliance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act in Nigeria (“CAMA”).

The appointments will take effect immediately.

Basil Omiyi

Mr Omiyi has sat on Seplat Energy’s board of directors since March 2013 and became the senior independent non-executive director in February 2021.

With over 40 years of experience in the energy industry, he has held senior roles in Nigeria and Europe, including becoming the managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria in 2004.

He was also the country chairman of Shell Companies, Nigeria, until his retirement in 2009.

He is the independent non-executive chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, a post he has held since 2015. In 2011, he was awarded the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger for pioneering leadership in Nigeria’s oil and gas

Charles Okeahalam

Okeahalam became a member of the board in March 2013 as an independent non-executive director, and was chair of Seplat Energy’s finance committee as well as a member of the Energy Transition, Remuneration, and Nominations & Governance committees.

He has extensive corporate finance and capital markets expertise in addition to an expansive knowledge of African financial markets, economies and the investment industry.

“He was a co-founder of AGH Capital Group, a private equity and diversified investment holding company based in Johannesburg, with assets in several African countries,” the document said .

Before co-founding AGH Capital Group in 2002, he was a professor of Financial Economics and Banking at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Other previous roles include advising a number of African central banks and government ministries, the World Bank and the United Nations.

He has held several board positions and is a former non-executive chairman of Heritage Bank Limited, Nigeria.

Okeahalam has served as the non-executive chairman of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company.