Afolabi emerges new chairman of Amni International

A major boardroom shakeup at Amni International Petrolwum and Development Company has thrown up Chief Tunde Afolabi as the new chairman of the indigenous major.
One of the most successful indigenous upstream players, Amni had retired army Colonel, Sani Bello, as its chairman and Professor Edozien as its vice chairman. Now, in an astonishing move, which took the industry by surprise, Chief Afolabi, who remains the managing director, now becomes chairman of the board.
Afolabi is said to have paid $150 million each to Bello and Edozien for their shares in the company. It is not known whether the split was acrimonious but some are saying it was not entirely without rancor and that while the two retirees were willing to put up their shares for sale, the move from Afolabi came as a surprise. Unsurprisingly, the parties involved are remaining tight-lipped about the sale for the moment.
Afolabi is a professional Geologist with over 30 years of oil and gas exploration and production experience from international companies. He is a past President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).
Amni is producing from its interests in two oil mining leases. Oil mining lease (OML) 112, the former OPL 469, located in the Eastern Niger Delta and covering 437 sq km, was granted in 1993 to the company on a sole risk basis just after its formation.   OML 117 (formerly OPL 237) also in the Eastern Niger Delta and covering just 50 sq km was awarded to Amni1n 1994.