Vice President Kashim Shettima on Friday commissioned a new corporate headquarters for Northwest Petroleum & Gas Co. Ltd., saying the expansion by the indigenous energy company reflects renewed confidence in Nigeria’s economy following the government’s fuel-subsidy and foreign-exchange reforms.
The new building, in Victoria Island, Lagos, will consolidate the company’s leadership and operations as it seeks to expand its role across Nigeria’s downstream oil-and-gas industry, Shettima said at the commissioning ceremony.
He said the facility signaled that Northwest Petroleum was preparing “for decades of service in a changing global energy economy,” adding that Nigerian-owned companies must demonstrate the capacity to compete, innovate and deliver at international standards.
“We take particular pride in seeing an indigenous enterprise expand with such conviction,” Vice Shettima said.
“Nigerian ownership must mean Nigerian capacity to compete, invent and deliver.”
The Vice President vice linked what he described as improving investment sentiment and performance in the petroleum sector to President Bola Tinubu’s economic programme, particularly the removal of petrol subsidies and changes to the foreign-exchange market.
Those measures, he said, had addressed market distortions that had discouraged productive investment, although he acknowledged the sacrifices imposed by the reforms.
“The stabilisation of the market is restoring the confidence businesses need to commit capital beyond the next quarter,” Shettima said.
“A business must be able to plan before it can expand.”
Nigeria ended its longstanding petrol-subsidy regime shortly after President Tinubu took office in 2023 and has since moved to liberalise parts of its foreign-exchange system.
The policies have been intended to improve public finances and attract investment, but have also contributed to higher transport, food and energy costs for households and businesses.
Vice President Shettima said the government’s role was to create conditions that encourage private investment, technological development and employment rather than attempt to create prosperity through official declarations.
“Government cannot manufacture prosperity by proclamation,” he said.
“We need private enterprises that turn investment into employment and opportunity.”
He said the new headquarters should improve coordination and productivity across Northwest Petroleum’s operations and generate business for suppliers, transport operators, maintenance companies and other service providers in the surrounding community.
The company, founded in 1998, has developed a presence in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
Vice President Shettima said its expansion could create opportunities for younger Nigerians and help deepen professional and technical skills in the energy industry.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said private investment had been central to the state’s economic growth and pledged continued government support for businesses.
“The private sector is the oil of growth,” Sanwo-Olu said, thanking companies in the oil-and-gas, financial-services and construction industries for investing in Lagos.
Northwest Petroleum’s founder and chief executive, Winifred Akpani, said the new headquarters represented the company’s confidence in Nigeria’s future and its ambition to build a modern indigenous energy business able to meet changing global standards.
“This smart building stands as a symbol of our long-term commitment to Nigeria’s future,” Mrs. Akpani said.
“It provides a modern environment designed to promote collaboration, strengthen operational efficiency, encourage innovation and empower the talented people who drive our business.”
She said the energy industry’s future would increasingly depend on technology, responsible investment, partnerships and the development of Nigerian talent.
Former Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, former Delta State Governor James Ibori, Dangote Industries executive Fatima Aliko-Dangote and other business leaders attended the event.
