The Ministry of Petroleum said on Wednesday it is taking targeted steps to close persistent gaps between policy and implementation across Nigeria’s oil and gas sector to turn policy commitments into measurable results.
The ministry convened a two-day management retreat in Abuja to map out actions to tackle underinvestment, crude theft, weak enforcement and persistent project delays that continue to limit Nigeria’s energy potential.
Delivering the welcome address at the retreat, which began on Wednesday, the permanent secretary, Patience Oyekunle, urged staff and agencies to strengthen planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting systems to ensure the ministry meets targets under President Bola Tinubu’s mandate.
Oyekunle described the event as “a valuable opportunity to pause, reflect, learn, share experiences, and collectively chart a more effective course” towards meeting the administration’s priorities. She highlighted that performance points were assigned between the president, the minister and permanent secretaries, with clear expectations for delivery and accountability.
She pointed to recent institutional reforms — including the establishment of the Central Resource Delivery Coordinating Unit (CRDCU) and the Quarterly Performance Assessment Framework — as evidence of the government’s renewed focus on measurable outcomes and accountability.
“As public servants, we must continuously improve our capacity to plan, implement, monitor, and report our activities in a manner that demonstrates value, impact, and accountability,” she said.
She stressed the strategic role of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in delivering priority four of the administration’s programme, which aims to unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development. The retreat, she said, is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of performance management requirements, strengthen reporting capabilities, and generate practical solutions to institutional challenges.
“The knowledge and insight gained here should not end with this retreat, but should translate into improved performance, stronger teamwork, innovation, and greater accountability across the ministry and its agencies,” she told directors and agency staff,
Also speaking, the director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Kemi Ahmed‑Yusuf, has identified eight key deliverables and 45 performance indicators for the sector and urged delegates at a retreat to adopt a data-driven, single‑vision approach to close the gap between policy and delivery.
Ahmed‑Yusuf said the ministry’s first-quarter 2026 submission to the Central Resource Delivery Coordinating Unit reported on eight deliverables that underpin Group 100 Priority No. 4 — unlocking energy and natural resources for sustainable development. The deliverables she listed include ensuring steady supply of petroleum products nationwide; boosting gas production for power, industrial and domestic uses; timely issuance of oil prospecting and mining licences (OPLs and OMLs); improving nuclear and radiation safety; increasing crude oil production to three million barrels per day; expanding local production of refined petroleum products; strengthening Nigerian content and local participation; and initiating regular citizen and stakeholder engagement sessions.
Noting the petroleum sector’s contribution — about 30 per cent of GDP and over 50 per cent of government revenue — Ahmed‑Yusuf warned that persistent challenges such as crude theft, underinvestment, project delays, weak cost discipline and regulatory gaps continue to impede progress. She said the Petroleum Industry Act provides a reform framework, but emphasised that citizens expect visible improvements in performance and reduced waste.
“We are here to close that gap between policy and resource,” she said, adding that delegates will identify institutional blockers, agree achievable actions and adopt a shared accountability model that specifies who reports what, to whom and when to prevent mandate overlap and speed up institutions.
Ahmed‑Yusuf stressed the centrality of data to reform efforts. “Data is life,” she said, arguing decisions must be evidence‑based: “If we cannot measure it, we cannot fix it.” She urged regulators, operators and commercial entities to work to a single national vision and end differences that hinder progress. Each session of the retreat, she said, will end with decisions and named champions responsible for implementation.
She closed by challenging participants to consider three concrete changes that would make Nigerians feel the petroleum sector is working for them and called on delegates to treat the retreat as “the boardroom of Nigeria’s future.”
