Management Team

SunTrust Atlantic Energies Ltd is run by a diverse and highly qualified team of professionals who bring a wealth of experience to achieve our desire of becoming a foremost oil and gas exploration and production company in Africa and beyond.

Ugo Okafor

PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Ugo is an astute professional and business executive with experience spanning over 20 years in management, business strategy and the oil and gas industry.

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Rachel Akhuetie (FCA)

Executive Director - Finance, Commercial and Services

Rachel is a highly driven multi-skilled professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in Accounting & Finance, Oil & Gas Commercial, Human Resource Management and Organizational Strategy.

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Hilary Okonye

Executive Director - CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Hilary is a Director at SunTrust Atlantic Energies Limited. He graduated from the University of Benin, Benin City, where he obtained a B.Eng. in Production Engineering with a second class honours (Upper division). With 13 years of experience in drilling, workover operation and other industry related jobs.

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Yewande Ajilore

HEAD, LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE

Yewande is a skilled legal practitioner with expertise in Business Advisory, Corporate & amp; Commercial and Energy & Project Finance Law with over 12 years of hands-on experience.

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Ekeno Ndebbio

FINANCE AND JV ACCOUNTS MANAGER

Ekeno John Ndebbio is an experienced professional with over fifteen (15) years’ experience garnered in both consulting and the oil and gas industries.

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Okenwa Kalu Emekwo

HEAD, OPERATIONS AND HSE

Okenwa is SunTrust Atlantic Energies Operations Manager and has over 14 year’s working experience in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, most of them in Geosciences, Production operation, Project management, Crude Oil Export and other Oil industry-related services.

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UGO OKAFOR

President, Chief Executive Officer

Ugo is an astute professional and business executive with extensive experience spanning over 20 years in management, business strategy and the oil and gas industry.

Ugo is an alumnus of the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he completed the Advanced Management Program, and also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

Ugo graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Law with a Juris Doctorate (JD). At Vanderbilt, he was on the Deans List and received the Vanderbilt award for scholastic excellence.

Over the years, as founder and Chief Executive of SunTrust Atlantic, Ugo has been and continues to be actively involved in the strategic development and operations of the Umusadege field. In his role as joint venture partner, he provides strategic advice and direction through the operating and management committees of the Umusadege joint venture and involvement in the entire production value chain of the Umusadege field.

Ugo serves on the boards of several companies, among which are Umugini Pipeline Infrastructure Limited (owner and operator of a 52km crude oil pipeline from Kwale to Eriemu), Midsun GGF Limited (a crude oil gathering and processing facility company) and Ingentia Energies Limited (operator of the Egbolom Field-PPL 202).

Under Ugo’s leadership, SunTrust Atlantic was awarded a 35.82% participating interest in PPL202 (formerly OML23) during the 2020 marginal field bid round. Ugo served as immediate past Chairman of the Board of Ingentia Energies Limited and inaugural Chairman of the Operating Committee of the PPL202 joint venture, bringing to bear his invaluable experience to drive strategy for successful and sustainable operations of the Egbolom field.

RACHEL AKHUETIE (FCA)

Executive Director, Finance, Commercial and Services

Rachel Akhuetie is a highly accomplished Harvard Business School trained Management Executive and Director with over 24 years of experience in Finance, Oil and Gas Operations, Corporate Services, Strategic Innovation, Consulting, Human resources, and Banking.

Rachel has worked in the energy industry for over 21 years. She joined SunTrust Atlantic in 2003 and has worked in various capacities through numerous leadership positions and currently holds the position of Executive Director, Finance, Commercial & Services. Rachel plays a major role in ensuring the delivery of strategic finance operations, joint venture coordination, asset acquisitions, asset management & development, stakeholder engagement, and ensuring implementation and alignment of the company’s strategic growth objective.

Rachel is a graduate of Accounting with an MBA in International Business Management, a Fellow (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, and an Associate (ACTI) of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. Rachel is an Alumnus of Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA, and also an Alumnus of Harvard Business School, Advance Management Program (AMP). She holds certifications as a Risk & Compliance Management Professional and a Certified International Financial Reporting Standard Specialist.

Her career is marked by a passion for driving value across finance, operations, project management, and change management, always with a focus on competitive strategy and organizational excellence. Known for her strong financial acumen and analytical skills, she brings focus, drive, and a results-oriented mindset to all her roles. Rachel’s leadership philosophy emphasizes innovative strategies that improve organizational performance and foster sustainable growth.

Rachel also serves as a director on the board of four other companies in the energy/oil & gas industry where Suntrust Atlantic holds interest.

HILARY OKONYE

DIRECTOR

Hilary is a Director at SunTrust Atlantic Energies Limited ("SunTrust Atlantic"). He graduated from the University of Benin, Benin City, where he obtained a B.Eng. in Production Engineering with a second class honours (Upper division).

He has over 13 years of experience in drilling, workover operation and other industry related jobs. He started his career in Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Limited (APDL) as a Wellsite Drilling Engineer before joining SunTrust Atlantic as a Well Engineer and within ten years grew to the position of Unit Head, Wells department.

In this current position, he manages the portfolio of projects; ranging from drilling of Exploratory/Appraisal/Development wells to reactivation of existing wells through workover and intervention programmes. He manages the Umusadege field Wells team in their various functions which includes well planning, scope development, readiness preparation and execution of drilling and well services operation in the field. This also includes workover program and the preparation for an extensive well decommissioning (P&A) project scope. Hilary is responsible for building in-house drilling and completion capabilities and processes (well delivery process, workover operation process and well intervention process).

He is also responsible for cost performance, safety and operational excellence during drilling, completion, workover and well intervention activities. He is involved in several multi-disciplinary efforts such as putting together the Umusadege field development plan.

email: info@suntrustatlantic.com

YEWANDE AJILORE

HEAD, LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE

Yewande is an astute and dynamic legal professional with over 15 years of hands-on experience in providing practical and innovative legal advisory for smooth business operations and facilitating seamless high-value, commercial transactions.

Prior to joining SunTrust Atlantic Energies Limited (formerly SunTrust Oil), Yewande was Senior Counsel at one of Nigeria’s leading law firms, Dentons ACAS-Law, where she honed her legal skills in the Corporate & Commercial and Energy & Project Finance practice groups. Over her legal career, she has been actively involved in the provision of innovative and excellent legal advice on corporate, commercial, and regulatory compliance matters to local and multinational companies and investors seeking to do or already doing business in Nigeria.

In her role as Head, Legal and Compliance, she is responsible for providing strategic legal direction to the Management and the Board of Directors of SunTrust Atlantic in addition to overseeing the company secretarial function. She is also fully responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating SunTrust Atlantic’s contracts, engagements, and other related matters. She takes responsibility for ensuring that SunTrust Atlantic’s business and legal interests are protected at all times, and that the business operations and transactions are at all times compliant with relevant statutory provisions, thereby eliminating legal risks and exposures to penalties.

Yewande has demonstrated proven track records of exemplary leadership and outstanding performances over her professional career. In her role at SunTrust Atlantic, Yewande leverages a unique blend of transactional expertise and legal acumen to contribute to the success of her organization and ultimately ensures smooth business operations.

Yewande holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in International Commercial Law from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Yewande is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), International Bar Association (IBA), Society for Corporate Governance of Nigeria (SCGN) and Centre for Petroleum Information (CPI).

email: info@suntrustatlantic.com

EKENO NDEBBIO

FINANCE AND JV ACCOUNTS MANAGER

Ekeno John Ndebbio is an experienced professional with over fifteen (15) years’ experience garnered in both consulting and the oil and gas industries. He began his career with Stanbic-IBTC Pension Managers Limited before joining KPMG Professional Services where he gained extensive experience in audit, accounting, advisory, process reviews, internal control design, and implementation on various client engagements spanning across diverse industries, with specific reference to Oil and Gas (both upstream and downstream sectors), Telecommunications, Marine & Shipping industries in Nigeria. Ekeno joined SunTrust Atlantic Energies in 2012 and served in various capacities ranging from Accountant, Finance Manager, and currently General Manager Finance and Commercial.

Ekeno earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Calabar, and an MBA with Specialism in Oil and Gas Management from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

OKENWA KALU EMEKWO

HEAD, OPERATIONS AND HSE

Okenwa is SunTrust Atlantic Energies Limited ("SunTrust Atlantic") Operations Manager and has over 14 year's working experience in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, most of them in Geosciences, Production operation, Project management, Crude Oil Export and other Oil industry-related services. Okenwa is a member of the Umusadege OML 56 Joint Venture Technical/Subsurface team and has been since 2008. He is actively involved in the development of the Umusadege Oil field; which oil production has increased from 1,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) at inception to currently over 15,000bopd.

Okenwa has also gained experience in 3D Seismic and Well log interpretations, well surveillance and surveillance reporting, well testing operations, contracting and bid evaluations and as Liaison officer, providing interface coordination between the JV operation and the various regulatory agencies.

Okenwa is currently the Operation Manager, SunTrust Atlantic. He manages the SunTrust Oil Crude export department processes, from the preparation of Documentary Instructions for every export to the processing of the Clean Certificate of Inspection at the end of every crude lifting operation.

Okenwa is a graduate of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, where he obtained a B. Tech in Geophysics. He also obtained a Master of Science degree, in International Management, with specialization in Oil and Gas operations, from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

email: info@suntrustatlantic.com

Management Team

Ugo Okafor

Rachel Akhuetie (FCA)

Hilary Okonye

Yewande Ajilore

Ekeno Ndebbio

Okenwa Kalu Emekwo

Email

Telephone

UGO OKAFOR

President, Chief Executive Officer

RACHEL AKHUETIE (FCA)

Executive Director, Finance, Commercial and Services

HILARY OKONYE

DIRECTOR

YEWANDE AJILORE

HEAD, LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE

EKENO NDEBBIO

FINANCE AND JV ACCOUNTS MANAGER

OKENWA KALU EMEKWO

HEAD, OPERATIONS AND HSE