Seplat Energy wants Nigerian energy mogul Bryant Orjiako to assist with critical tasks after retirement

Seplat Energy Plc, Nigeria’s largest energy company, has confirmed that it is in talks with its outgoing Chairman Ambrosie Bryant Orjiako, who will retire from the board on May 18, about how he will assist the integrated energy group after his retirement.

The company revealed that the decision to hold talks with the outgoing chairman is a strategic move that will see Orjiako assist Seplat with specific, critical external stakeholder engagements in which he is involved, which will continue beyond the date when he steps down as chairman.

Thee latest move comes six months after the Nigerian energy magnate decided to step down as chairman and board director of the leading energy group.

The group stated that no contract has been finalized and that Orjiako’s contractual role will not conflict with the role of the incoming independent non-executive chairman.

“An accelerated contractual payment will be made post-AGM 2022, in accordance with the Shareholders’ approved Remuneration Policies and fully disclosed in the Company’s Directors Remuneration Report for 2022,” the management added in a corporate announcement published on the Nigerian Exchange.

Orjiako, who co-founded the energy company with Austin Avuru in 2009 through the collaboration of Shebah Petroleum Development Company and Platform Petroleum Joint Ventures, is credited with turning Seplat into one of Nigeria’s most successful indigenous oil and gas enterprises.

In recent times the energy company reached an agreement to buy ExxonMobil’s entire stake in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) for $1.58 billion, including contingent payments.

The planned ExxonMobil transaction is expected to increase the group’s oil output by 186 percent, from 51,000 barrels per day to 146,000 barrels per day, while liquid and gas reserves will increase by 170 percent and 14 percent, respectively, to 650 million barrels and 1,712 billion standard cubic feet of gas.

Since its inception more than a decade ago, Seplat has grown into the Nigerian Exchange’s largest listed energy group, with a market capitalization of N765.04 billion ($1.84 billion).

Orjiako’s stake in Seplat Energy is now valued at N49.2 billion ($118.5 million).