Our Leadership

Leadership Team
Board of Directors

Leadership Team

Our management is led by a highly motivated team of seasoned and passionate Nigerians, inspired by our vision to become a world class integrated independent oil and gas Company by responsibly developing hydrocarbon resources for the benefit of humanity.

Rowland Ogundu
General Manager Operations

Calistus Egwakhide
Corporate HSSE Manager

Aide Fagbure
Group Head, Human Resources and Corporate Services

Oluwadare Agbelese
Group Head, Legal and Supply Chain Management

Eriye Onagoruwa
Group Head, External Affairs and Government Relations

General Manager Operations

Rowland Ogundu

He has 30 years working experience in the Oil & Gas Industry in Nigeria, having worked with Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited for 19 years, Waltersmith 7 years and Western Geophysical 4 years in different capacities from Project Engineer/Interface Coordinator, Lead Pipeline, Survey Engineer & Project Surveyor.

In his early days after graduation, he worked in the exploration industry with Western Geophysical between 1989 and 1993, before joining SPDC in 2004. While in SPDC, he successfully participated in the engineering design work and construction of a 300km pipelines, flowline, remote manifolds and a central processing facility for SPDC – Gbaran Integrated Oil and Gas Project in Bayelsa State.

In Waltersmith, he is the manager in charge of operations and also the Project Manager Waltersmith‘s 5000/day Modular Refinery. He is an asset to the exploration and production industry in Nigeria. He graduated from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt in 1987 and he is a member of International Facility Management Association and several professional bodies.

Corporate HSSE Manager

Calistus Egwakhide

Calistus Egwakhide is the Corporate Manager, Health, Safety, Security, and Environment of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited. He is a seasoned professional with over 18 years of experience in safety, health, security and environment roles across the oil and gas industry.

Calistus holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Pure and Applied Physics from the prestigious Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, a Postgraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Benin and an M.Sc. in Environment and Safety from the University of Port Harcourt. He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Safety Professionals and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

He has worked as a Production Operator and a Safety Officer at Dubri Oil Company Limited, where he eventually became the leading Health Safety and Environment Officer. During that time, he significantly reduced incidences in the processing facility by more than 95%. He facilitated best industry practices, led continuous improvement initiatives to reduce work process risks, raised safety awareness, and improved safe work practices. He eventually became acting head of Operations before joining the Health Safety and Environment Department in Waltersmith. As an HSE Professional in Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, he successfully collaborated to advance the company’s field HSSE structure to present industry standards.

He has numerous professional training and certifications in QHSE management, including First aid and advanced CPR certificate, NNRA National Training Course (NTC) for Radiation Safety Officers, and Oil Spill Management certificate. He is also a Lead Auditor in ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards. He holds the prestigious qualifications of Nebosh -Managing Health and Safety; Nebosh-IGC in Occupational Health and Safety; Nebosh- International Oil and Gas Certificate; and Nebosh – Process Safety Management.

Calistus became the Corporate Manager, Health, Safety, Security, and Environment of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited in May 2022.

Group Head, Human Resources and Corporate Services

Aide Fagbure

With over 10 years of experience in Human Resources, Aide oversees our People function, which includes talent acquisition, talent and organisational development, total rewards, diversity equity and inclusion, people partnering and HR operations. Aide focuses on creating a strong sense of community and is passionate about inclusion and belonging in the workplace.

Before joining Waltersmith, Aide had been building a wealth of knowledge of HR operations within the energy industry. At Subsea 7 UK, her responsibilities included full cycle recruitment, HR policy standardisation and partnering with department heads to support onshore and offshore personnel across the EMEA region.

In an earlier role, in talent sourcing, Aide, in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Labour, led a team that successfully placed hundreds of foreign-educated Saudi nationals in private energy firms to meet the requirements set out by the Nitaqat initiative. The mandate was to increase the number of Saudi nationals employed by the private sector, with an emphasis on the oil and gas industry.

Aide holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Reading, UK and a Master’s degree in Energy Trade and Finance from Cass Business School, UK. She is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Aide brings her wealth of experience to Waltersmith as the Human Resources and Corporate Services Manager.

Group Head, Legal and Supply Chain Management

Oluwadare Agbelese

Group Head, External Affairs and Government Relations

Eriye Onagoruwa

Eriye is a multi-skilled professional with over nineteen years post-graduation experience in the oil and gas industry.

Eriye is skilled in Gas and Power multi party contract negotiations and has proven commercial acumen in concluding complex Gas and Power projects and development frameworks, refinery commercial transactions and complex stakeholder management. She represented Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) as the commercial lead in the SPDC JV commercial negotiations covering multi-million dollar projects, worked on several NAOC JV commercial initiatives including NAOC’s first IPP Power plant and led the company’s refinery expansion project with NNPC.

Eriye is a thought leader and industry advocate on gas to power; a key participant in the policy and legislative development of the National Domestic Gas Supply and Pricing policy for Nigeria. She served as vice-chairman of the Gas sub-committee of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Eriye Onagoruwa holds a Masters of Law in International Law and Policy from University of Ottawa, Canada. She is a Member, Chartered institute of Arbitrators England (Nigerian Branch).

She is also an author and a feature columnist for the Guardian newspaper.

Eriye brings her wealth of experience to Waltersmith as the External affairs and Government Relations manager.

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors is made up of diverse group of veteran professionals in various disciplines ranging from oil and gas, banking, finance and business entrepreneurs.

Osten Olorunsola
Non- Executive Director

Eng. Peter Ekhaesomhi
Non-Executive Director

President/ Group CEO

Abdulrazaq Isa

Abdulrazaq Isa is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Waltersmith Group of Companies.

He is a seasoned entrepreneur and astute international businessman with over 30 years of experience in business, financial services and the oil & gas industry.

He started his career in banking, gathering over 15 years first with African International Bank Nigeria Ltd, then Chartered Bank Nigeria Plc (now Stanbic IBTC) and co-founded Safetrust Savings & Loan Ltd (now a subsidiary of Sterling Bank plc). He established Waltersmith with interest in several sectors of the economy including Oil and Gas Upstream and Midstream, Real Estate, Hospitality, Agriculture and Manufacturing.

He specializes in strategy and enterprise transformation and has participated in several international negotiations for asset acquisition and joint venture project financing in the Oil and Gas industry. Under the leadership of Abdulrazaq, Waltersmith successfully commenced commercial export from the Ibigwe field in 2008 and has grown production from 500 bopd to its current production of 7,000 bopd. In 2013, Waltersmith was awarded the Marginal Oil Field Special Award for its outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the Nigerian Marginal Field Programme. The company was awarded 80% stake in an Oil Block (EG-23) in the 2019 Oil and Gas Licensing round in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea following its participation in the competitive bidding process. He consistently pursues his vision to transform Waltersmith into a fully integrated energy company. In 2020, Waltersmith won the awards for Refinery Project of the year and Future Industry Leader.

Abdulrazaq is a member of several professional bodies including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Energy Institute (EI) and the Institute of Directors (IOD). He is a Board of Trustee member of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group of Nigeria (IPPG) and is the Second Vice Chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS). He also serves on the board of a few companies and in involved in philanthropic activities aimed at supporting the improvement of science education in Nigeria.

Vice Chairman

Danjuma Saleh

Danjuma is the Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of Waltersmith Group of Companies.

A former banker with extensive banking experience, Danjuma started his banking career with NIB/Citibank where he worked for several years before joining Universal Trust Bank Limited (UTB) in 1988. While at UTB, he was actively involved in the strategic turn-around and repositioning of the bank as a major player in the Nigerian banking industry. He held various positions ranging from pioneer Branch Manager of UTB’s Corporate Branch in Victoria Island, pioneer Manager, UTB Broad Street Branch, Area Manager for Lagos Mainland Branches and Chief Inspector/Head of Internal Control of the bank.

In 1993, he co-founded and was appointed pioneer Managing Director/CEO of Safetrust Savings & Loans Limited (now Safetrust Mortgage Bank). He was elected the Chairman of the Board of Safetrust in 1999 and was in this position until July 2004 when Safetrust was partially acquired by Magnum Trust Bank Ltd (now Sterling Bank Plc).

In 1997, Danjuma was appointed by Benue State Government of Nigeria to serve as a member of the State Committee on the reactivation of the State Government owned companies.

A very distinguished gentleman and an astute manager of resources, Danjuma serves on the Board of several companies amongst which are PINL Marine & Oil Services Limited, Davonne Investments Company Ltd, Airflow Engineering Company Limited, Osborne Properties & Investments Ltd, Graham Grant & Company Ltd and Sirius Wireless Ltd.

He is a member of several professional bodies and clubs including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Energy Institute (EI), Institute of Directors (IOD), Ikoyi Club 1938, Ikeja Golf Club, Lagos Polo Club and the Atlanta High Museum of Arts.

Non- Executive Director

Osten Olorunsola

A professional Petroleum Geologist, Technologist, Development Planner & Economist, Commercial Gas and Power expert with over 36 years of practice and experience, working with Agip-ENI and Shell International, where he retired as Vice President for Sub Sahara Africa. He has also served as Adviser to the Minister of State for Energy, and later as Director of Petroleum Resources from 2011-2013.

He has operated at the highest levels of the three core areas of the Petroleum Resource Management (Technical & Commercial Operations, Policy Formulation and Regulatory Authority). He has also been Technical Chairperson for drafting the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Bill including the 2017 Governance Bill.

Osten is a foundation graduate of geology from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin-Nigeria, an alumnus of IMD Lausanne, a Fellow of the Emerald Energy Institute of the University of Port Harcourt, as well as Nigeria Country Chairman and Fellow of the Energy Institute (UK).

He serves as a non-executive director in several companies including Niger Delta Exploration and Production, Extra Hydrocarbon Nig. Ltd, Fortune Energy Services, Industrial and General Insurance, and Chief Consultant of Energetikos Limited.

Non-Executive Director

Mrs. Aqua-Umoren

She is the CEO of Millennium Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, with many years of experience as a corporate lawyer and adviser on company set-ups and management. She specializes in human resources and labour conflict resolution. She was also an Executive Director at Emerald Energy Resources, the operators of OPL 229.

Non-Executive Director

Eng. Peter Ekhaesomhi

Engr. Peter Ekhaesomhi is currently an Executive Director and the Vice President Exploration & Production. He has worked in both multinational and indigenous oil exploration and production companies in Nigeria for 30 years.

Peter graduated as a Petroleum Engineer from Nigeria’s Premier University at Ibadan; in the course of his professional career, he has acquired diversified working experience in drilling, production operations, field development and Asset evaluation. Peter commenced his career in Ashland Oil Limited in 1988 as a Petroleum Engineer in the drilling department via a deployment by Lighthouse Petroleum Engineering Company, Warri.

He thereafter joined Dubri Oil Company Limited in August 1989 as a Petroleum Engineer and rose up to the position of a Production Manager before he left in September 2007. In October 2007, he resumed at Waltersmith as The Head of Technical Services where he led the company to her first oil in March 2008 and subsequent field development including studies, drilling development wells, production optimization, installation of production and metering facilities. Peter is well versed in engaging several government regulatory agencies at both mid and high levels to ensure compliance to the regulatory standards. He has successfully supervised various work teams in field development, facilities and production operations at both senior and executive management levels.

He is the Team Lead on the development and construction of the ongoing 5000bpd Modular refinery at Ibigwe due to be commissioned in May 2020 and as well being involved in other successful new asset acquisition at both local and international levels.

Peter is a registered (and indeed an ex-officio) member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers International. He fully participates in both local and international conferences organized by the society as well as other industry related seminars and workshops. He is also a registered member of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).

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Our Leadership

Leadership Team

Board of Directors

Leadership Team

Rowland Ogundu

Calistus Egwakhide

Aide Fagbure

Oluwadare Agbelese

Eriye Onagoruwa

General Manager Operations

Rowland Ogundu

Corporate HSSE Manager

Calistus Egwakhide

Group Head, Human Resources and Corporate Services

Aide Fagbure

Group Head, Legal and Supply Chain Management

Oluwadare Agbelese

Group Head, External Affairs and Government Relations

Eriye Onagoruwa

Board of Directors

Abdulrazaq Isa

Danjuma Saleh

Osten Olorunsola

Mrs. Aqua-Umoren

Eng. Peter Ekhaesomhi

President/ Group CEO

Abdulrazaq Isa

Vice Chairman

Danjuma Saleh

Non- Executive Director

Osten Olorunsola

Non-Executive Director

Mrs. Aqua-Umoren

Non-Executive Director

Eng. Peter Ekhaesomhi

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