Oil, Power and 2027: Inside the Presidency’s Decision to Defer NNPC Block Sales

The Presidency has quietly put the brakes on a major sale of oil blocks held by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). The program, known internally as Project Delta, has stalled since June amid political negotiations that stretch far beyond ordinary commercial talks. But what is the real deal here? Experts have their opinions.

Nigeria heads to the polls again on January 16, 2027, and lobbying inside Aso Rock has intensified. Some of the president’s closest advisers have reportedly pushed to favour certain companies over others, raising the risk of a politically messy auction just before an election.

Leadership turnover has not helped. Former NNPC boss Mele Kyari first pushed the block sales to revive underperforming fields, but the plan lost momentum after his exit. His successor, Bayo Ojulari, revived it, adding 10 more blocks, including OML 86, 88 and 137, and extending the bid deadline to June 4, 2026.

Once Ojulari left too, the process stalled further. Standard Chartered, the transaction advisor, reportedly heard nothing more from NNPC afterwards.

Money pressures have also shifted. In February 2026, President Bola Tinubu signed Executive Order No. 9, stripping NNPC of its power to deduct its management fee and frontier exploration fund at source, sending that revenue straight into the Federation Account instead. With less direct financial incentive to rush, the urgency around a quick sale eased.

Legal complications bring another twist to the settings. NNPC’s forward crude sales arrangements carry repayment obligations of 272,000 barrels a day through at least 2028, tied to more than $20 billion in legacy loans, a web that makes any large-scale divestment legally delicate.

Labour unions PENGASSAN and NUPENG have pushed back hard too, warning that the proposed 30 to 35 per cent equity sales could threaten roughly 4,000 jobs.

Seen from a single lens, these pressures explain why deferral, not divestment, has become the Presidency’s preferred move for now, buying time to manage political and structural risk before a decisive election year.