THE Board of Forte Oil Plc (Formerly African Petroleum Plc) has announced the appointment of Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa and Mr. Owotuga Babatunde Julius as acting chief executive officer and acting chief financial officer respectively.Until recently, Akinfemiwa was the director Trading and Business Development of Fineshade Energy Limited. A seasoned and experienced International Petroleum Products Trader with focus on oil and oil products futures, swaps and derivatives trading.He started out his petroleum products trading and marketing career with the Oando Group having worked with the group deputy managing director. He went on to other leadership roles within the group, working as a senior derivatives and products trader, where he was responsible for establishing and developing the futures and derivatives desk. Akinfemiwa was influential in developing strategic trading and supply relationships for Oando in the West African sub Region.He left Oando for Fineshade Energy Limited to assume the role of head, Trading and Business Development before being promoted to his last role as lead director at Fineshade Energy, all in recognition of his leadership skills and contributions to the rapid growth and expansion of the company's business.Prior to this, Akinfemiwa had worked with FSB International Bank Plc as a Business Process Analyst and sub-team leader on the company's Business Transformation Project in 2001.An alumnus of the Said Business School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, Akinfemiwa holds a B.Sc. Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan and also a Master of Business Administration (Information Technology) from the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside, United Kingdom.Owotuga, the new acting chief financial officer, was until recently at Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) where he had responsibilities for the corporation's assets and liabilities management function and also doubled as the assistant treasurer.The Africa Finance Corporation is a $1 billion private sector led Development Finance and Investment Bank.Prior to this, he was a Finance manager in the same Corporation. In this role, Julius set up the Financial Control function of the institution. He was also responsible for Human Resources and Administration at the corporation's start up.He Joined the AFC from Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited where he was a finance manager with responsibilities for the finance aspect of the bank's expansion project. Before this, He was at KPMG where he led assurance engagements within the Nigerian financial services industry. He also consulted for a number of institutions on IFRS and Risk management while at KPMG Professional Services. Prior to his time at KPMG, Julius worked in the foreign operations Group of MBC International Bank.He holds a B.Sc in Accounting from the University of Lagos and he is an executive MBA student of a business school in the United States. He is also a chartered management accountant and certified treasury and financial manager.Speaking on the appointment, the Chairman of the board, Mr. Femi Otedola said: 'The Board of Forte Oil is confident in the capabilities of Akinfemiwa and Julius to take the company through to its next phase of growth.'Over the last year, we have taken care to reengineer the company through restructuring of its people, processes and system, whilst also paying off the debts accrued by the company's previous owners.''We have no doubt that they will both deliver beyond our expectations.'You may recall that the company working mutually with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) recently paid about N6.321 109b as severance package in the last two years.The strategy for the company moving forward is to operate a smart structure for efficiency and productivity, especially as the company focuses on asset development with an aim to increase consumer value, to continuously improve on its operations whilst diversifying into mid and upstream operations.Forte Oil is renowned for her ability to offer her consumers a wide range of products from the oil value chain, PMS, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene, commercial gas and a wide range of lubricants for various automobiles and machines.
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