THE Board of Directors of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has approved the appointment of Engr. Adeleye Falade as the company’s new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Falade is expected to assume office in April 2026. He will be joining NLNG from Brunei LNG, where he currently serves as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
He succeeds the outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Philip Mshelbila, who will exit the company after more than four years of what has been described as transformative leadership. Mshelbila is scheduled to leave NLNG on December 31, 2025, to take up his new role as Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Doha, Qatar.
To mark the end of Mshelbila’s tenure, NLNG organised a symbolic send-off ceremony in Abuja, attended by members of the Board of Directors, executives of shareholder companies, senior public-sector officials, energy industry stakeholders, members of NLNG management, and representatives of various staff groups.
Speaking at the event, NLNG’s Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Olakunle Osobu, described Mshelbila as a distinguished professional with a rare blend of expertise spanning medicine, environmental health, strategic business leadership, and global gas diplomacy.
Osobu said Mshelbila assumed leadership at a particularly challenging period for the company, navigating the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread flooding that disrupted gas pipelines, incidents of vandalism, and multiple force majeure declarations by gas suppliers. He added that the global energy instability triggered by the Russia–Ukraine war further compounded the operating environment.
Despite these challenges, Osobu noted that NLNG remained firmly on course in pursuing its sustainability objectives under Mshelbila’s leadership. According to him, the outgoing MD placed strong emphasis on business sustainability, operational diversification, emissions reduction, and safety as a core value.
He disclosed that Mshelbila spearheaded a strategic shift to expand NLNG’s feed-gas supply base beyond the traditional shareholder joint-venture structure. This, he said, culminated in the negotiation and execution of long-term Gas Supply Agreements with six third-party gas suppliers in August 2025. The agreements are expected to deliver an estimated 1,290 million standard cubic feet per day of feed gas to NLNG, a development Osobu described as a historic and transformative milestone for the company.
Osobu further stated that Mshelbila promoted innovation and inspired the workforce to deepen its commitment to environmental stewardship and emissions control. He added that the outgoing MD also redefined NLNG’s business model through a comprehensive transformation programme designed to lay a solid foundation for long-term sustainability and value creation.
Also speaking, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Sophia Horsfall, paid glowing tribute to Mshelbila’s leadership and personal qualities.
“Thank you for your selflessness, for the steadiness of your leadership, for the clarity of your vision, and for the values that guided your every step,” Horsfall said. “You led with humility, yet you inspired greatness. You carried the weight of challenges with calm resolve, and you charted a path toward sustainability long before it became fashionable.”
In his response, Mshelbila expressed deep appreciation to NLNG’s shareholders, Board of Directors, employees, and industry partners for their support throughout his tenure. He praised the company’s enduring culture of innovation and excellence and pledged to carry these values into his new role at the GECF, where he said he would continue to advocate natural gas as a sustainable and reliable energy source.