The Board of Directors of he Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, has approved the appointment of Engr. Adeleye Falade as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company
Falade will assume duties in April 2026.He will join NLNG from Brunei LNG, where he has been serving as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.
Falade succeeds the outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Philip Mshelbila, who departs the Company after more than four years of transformative leadership.
Mshelbila leaves the Company on 31st December 2025 to assume the position of Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Doha, Qatar.
NLNG Directors, executives from shareholder companies, dignitaries from the public sector and energy industry in Nigeria, members of NLNG management, and representatives of various staff groups graced symbolic send forth ceremony in Abuja to mark the end of Mshelbila’s tenure in the company.
In his remarks, Olakunle Osobu, NLNG’s Deputy Managing Director, described Mshelbila as a man of distinction, an accomplished professional whose expertise spans medicine, environmental health, strategic business leadership, and global gas diplomacy.
He noted that Mshelbila’s focus was clear: driving business sustainability, diversifying operations, and advancing emissions control with safety at the core.
He disclosed that the outgoing MD stepped in during a period of unprecedented challenges, from the aftermath of COVID-19 and severe flooding that disrupted gas pipelines to vandalism and force majeure declarations by suppliers.
He stated that the global energy turbulence following the Russia–Ukraine war added further strain.
He said despite these hurdles, Osobu emphasised that under Mshelbila’s leadership, NLNG pursued its sustainability goals with courage and innovation.
“Understanding that NLNG needed multiple supply sources, especially with current challenges, Mshelbila championed a bold and strategic pivot to expand NLNG’s feed-gas base beyond the shareholder joint-venture supply chain.
According to him, under his leadership, NLNG negotiated and signed long-term Gas Supply Agreements (GSAs) with six third-party gas suppliers in August 2025.
These GSAs commit to delivering an estimated 1,290 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) of feed-gas to NLNG, a historic step for the Company, marking a seismic shift, he added.
Osobu stated that Mshelbila had championed innovation with a forward-looking approach, inspiring NLNG’s workforce to strengthen their commitment to emissions control and environmental stewardship.
He added that Mshelbila redefined NLNG’s business model through its transformation programme, building foundations for future sustainability and value creation.
In her remarks, Sophia Horsfall, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, paid glowing tribute to Mshelbila, saying, “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. You led with humility, yet you inspired greatness. You carried the weight of challenges with calm resolve. You charted a path toward sustainability long before it became fashionable.”
Responding, Mshelbila expressed profound gratitude to NLNG’s shareholders, Board of Directors, staff, and industry partners for their support throughout his tenure.
He commended the company’s enduring culture of innovation and excellence and affirmed that he would carry these values into his new role at GECF, where he will promote natural gas as a sustainable and reliable energy source.
