Nigeria's minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Taiwo Oyedele, called for public listings of the national oil company and a partly state-owned gas producer, citing broader ownership and transparency.
At the National Capital Market Conference in Abuja on Oct. 19, Oyedele identified Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) as candidates for listings. He said allowing Nigerians to buy shares would widen participation and make the businesses more transparent, Nairametrics reported.
The proposal came alongside a broader effort to expand Nigeria's capital market. A representative of Vice President Kashim Shettima launched a development plan at the conference, Nairametrics reported. Securities and Exchange Commission Director-General Emomotimi Agama said the plan aimed to grow the market from about 250 trillion naira to 750 trillion naira by 2036.
Oyedele separately described a $1 trillion capital market as an ambition linked to an economy reaching $1.5 trillion. He used one-tenth of a $1.6 trillion value he cited for Saudi Aramco to illustrate a $160 billion figure for NNPC. That was Oyedele's comparison, not an independently established valuation or an offering price.
NNPC's audited 2025 results showed profit after tax of 7.2 trillion naira, up 33%, even as revenue fell 24% to 34.5 trillion naira. The company said cheaper crude and lower volumes of refined petroleum products following deregulation in 2024 accounted for much of the revenue decline.
NNPC holds a 49% stake in NLNG, according to the gas producer. Oyedele's call for an NLNG listing was a proposal; no share offering was announced.
NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Bashir Bayo Ojulari said Sept. 29 that the company had completed an initial diagnostic and gap assessment, TheCable reported. Consultants and assessors would evaluate its readiness for a listing before shareholders decide whether to pursue an initial public offering. Ojulari set no date for that decision or a share sale.
