Eterna appoints Abiola Lawal as CEO

The board of Eterna Plc has appointed Abiola Lawal as the new managing director and chief executive officer (CEO).

Eterna, an energy firm, announced the appointment in a statement on Monday.

It was learnt that Lawal will replace Benjamin Nwaezeigwe, who resigned after two years of service to the company.

The new CEO’s appointment takes effect on April 15, 2024.

According to the firm, Lawal has a proven record of positive performance in executive leadership at “multiple C-Suite level roles locally and internationally”.

The energy company said the new appointee is a global executive with over twenty-five years of management executive experience “in private and publicly listed companies across diverse industries”.

“Lawal has expansive experience in the oil & gas sector and a proven record of value delivery in several aspects of executive management,” the statement said.

“Lawal most recently worked with Eroton Exploration and Production Company Limited as deputy managing director and chief financial officer.

“Prior to this he served as group chief strategy officer of Oando Plc during its transformation from downstream to upstream and gas.

“While at Oando, he oversaw the successful implementation of Oracle ERP technology as a game changer to transform the operations of the company.”

Eterna said Lawal also served as executive director of Oando Gas and Power as well as Gaslink (now known as Axxella) during the rapid growth and expansion phase of the then subsidiary.

According to the organisation, Lawal was the pioneer executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Camac Energy Inc. in the USA (later known as Erin Energy) — the first Nigerian-owned energy firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Eterna said he also served in multiple executive roles in other companies, including CAMAC International Corporation and ExeQute Partners, Inc., both in Houston, Texas USA.

According to the statement, the oil executive and economist served as the CEO of eWorldtrack Mobile Technologies USA, and as a senior manager at SAP AG America.

Eterna also said Lawal recently completed a certificate course in data science and artificial intelligence (AI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.

In addition, he holds a master of business administration (MBA) degree with a concentration in finance, strategy, and technology from the University of California Irvine.

The statement said Lawal graduated from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria with a bachelor of science (B.Sc.) in economics with a minor in finance.

Eterna stated that the new CEO is also a member of various professional associations including the Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria, the African Energy Chamber, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the National Association of Corporate Directors USA.