Olu Arowolo Verheijen, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Oil and Gas, has been named Woman in Leadership of the Year at the 2026 NOG Energy Week Awards, in recognition of her role driving Nigeria’s energy sector reforms.
She was awarded the prize at the Awards Gala Dinner hosted on Wednesday by NNPC Limited in the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
As Special Adviser on Oil and Gas to President Tinubu, Verheijen leads transformational energy reforms on behalf of the Presidency. She has championed presidential reforms that have unlocked over $10 billion in Foreign Direct Investment since 2023, and created a upstream investment pipeline for Nigeria in excess of $50 billion.
Verheijen leads two major presidential initiatives designed to restore financial viability in the power sector and attract long-term private investment: the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) and the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme (PPSDRP).
She also serves on the board of the Presidential CNG and EV Initiative and led a Technical Subcommittee appointed by President Tinubu to develop detailed guidelines for the direct remittance of Profit Oil, Royalty Oil, and Tax Oil by operators into the Federation Account, in line with Executive Order 9 of 2026.
A Fellow of the Energy Institute, Verheijen was awarded a Special Exemplary Leadership Award by the Gas Investment Forum in 2025.
Verheijen has over 20 years of experience across the private and public sectors in Africa, having held leadership roles at Shell, Latimer Energy and Persistent, among others. A Harvard Kennedy School alumna, she is also Founder of the BFA Foundation for women’s advancement.
