Omosunlade speaks on Navigating Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Crossroads

By Tosin Clegg

In a sector defined by volatility, national assets, and decisions that shape national fortunes, few voices command the credibility and breadth of experience that Abdulai Omosunlade possesses. A finance expert with a strong footprint across Nigeria’s offshore energy corridor, Omosunlade has distinguished himself at the intersection of financial integrity, ethical governance, and the structural backbone of West Africa’s oil and gas industry. Steering financial controls on deepwater loading terminals, his career reflects a rare blend of technical competence and principled leadership.
At a time when Nigeria’s petroleum sector is undergoing profound shifts, from the landmark passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by President Muhammadu Buhari to chronic production shortfalls, soaring subsidy costs, and escalating pipeline vandalism, the need for grounded, expert insight has never been clearer. This exclusive interview aims to unpack these defining national issues through the lens of a practitioner who has seen the industry from both the policy table and the offshore frontline.
In this special feature, we sit down with Abdulai Omosunlade to dissect the industry and explore the future of Nigeria’s oil and gas landscape.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was finally passed after nearly two decades of delay. What does this moment represent for the industry?
The passage of the PIA was like releasing a valve that had been under pressure for years. Investors were frustrated by uncertainty. Operators were constrained by unclear rules. The government was losing value. The Act gave the industry structure, clarity, and direction. Its most pivotal shift was repositioning NNPC into a commercially driven company, NNPC Limited, with accountability and operational discipline at its core.
But beyond the legal text, the PIA represents something symbolic: Nigeria finally acknowledging that modern energy governance requires transparency, competitiveness, and the courage to reform.
Despite high oil prices, Nigeria consistently failed to meet its OPEC production quotas in 2021. What were the underlying causes?
It was a structural problem long in the making. Our production infrastructure is aging and vulnerable. Years of underinvestment, driven largely by regulatory uncertainty before the PIA, slowed field development. Operational disruptions became routine. Maintenance backlogs grew. Security incidents made it difficult to sustain stable output.
When you put all these together, meeting OPEC quotas becomes less a policy challenge and more a capacity challenge. The barrels simply were not there.
Fuel subsidy costs ballooned in 2021. Why has Nigeria found it so difficult to reform the subsidy regime?
Subsidy reform sits at the intersection of economics, politics, and social welfare. It is not a simple decision. Removing subsidies without protecting vulnerable households would fuel hardship. Keeping subsidies without efficiency reforms drains public finances.
The real issue lies in structural weaknesses: idle refineries, insufficient domestic supply, poor distribution systems, and governance leakages. These inefficiencies amplify subsidy costs. Nigeria needs a phased approach. Build refining capacity, improve downstream governance, then transition into a targeted support system for those who truly need it.
Pipeline vandalism and crude theft reached alarming levels in 2021. What is driving the persistence of this challenge?
Pipeline vandalism is not just a crime, but an economic ecosystem. Entire communities have become dependent on illegal tapping because legitimate opportunities are limited. Yet the scale of theft, running into billions of dollars, indicates well-organized networks with sophisticated operations.
A solution must be multi-layered: technology-based monitoring, stronger inter-agency coordination, improved metering, and sincere engagement with host communities. You cannot address a systemic problem with a single tool.
Looking across these crises, do you think Nigeria’s energy sector is moving in the right direction?
The direction is clearer now than it was before the PIA, but clarity alone is not progress. We need execution. Our priorities must be straightforward: secure the production corridors, invest in infrastructure, incentivize gas as a transition fuel, and strengthen the institutions that govern the sector.
But above all, we must anchor our reforms in ethics. When governance is weak, even the best-designed policies lose their impact. Ethics gives reforms staying power.
As someone who has worked across ethics, finance, and energy infrastructure, what lessons should Nigeria carry forward from 2021?
The lesson is simple: ethics is infrastructure. It is the invisible system that supports everything else. Without trust, investors hesitate. Without transparency, contracts collapse. Without discipline, projects lose value. If Nigeria gets ethics and governance right, the potential of our oil and gas industry will finally match its promise.

As Nigeria navigates the next chapter of its energy future, Abdulai Omosunlade offers clarity in a landscape often clouded by volatility and competing interests. His insights draw from his lived experience, both offshore and onshore, as well as technical and ethical considerations, reminding the nation that resilience is built not only through infrastructure, but also through the values and principles behind it.
In a period defined by reform, disruption, and opportunity, his perspective emphasizes a simple truth: Nigeria’s oil and gas transformation will depend on the integrity of its people as much as the strength of its pipelines.