Dame Winifred Akpani, receiving The Zik Prize in Enterpreneurial Leadership 2025 from His Royal Majesty Professor Epiphany Chukwuemeka Azinge, SAN, The Asagba of Asaba, on Sunday, 16 November 2025, at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Dame Winifred Akpani, a distinguished Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), stands as a towering figure in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and a beacon of integrity, ambition, and excellence.
With over three decades of professional experience, she began her career as a trainee accountant at Oni Lasebikan & Co. (now Ernst & Young), later qualifying as a chartered accountant at Arthur Andersen (now KPMG). Rising swiftly to Audit Senior, she joined Flame Petroleum & Gas as Financial Controller and ascended to Executive Director within five years.
In 1998, driven by a vision for self-fulfillment, she founded Northwest Petroleum & Gas Company Limited, transforming it from a modest diesel supplier to banks and homes into a pan-African energy conglomerate with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual turnover.
Under Dame Akpani’s visionary leadership, Northwest Petroleum & Gas has expanded across downstream, midstream, and upstream sectors, securing a Petroleum Prospecting License (PPL) in the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round. The company operates two ultra-modern terminals in Calabar Free Trade Zone with 96.8 million litres capacity, a state-of-the-art berthing facility, multiple mega filling stations, and an advanced lubricants blending plant. Its flagship Rozarium brand dominates the market, driven by world-class professionals ensuring operational excellence, safety, and efficiency.
Dame Akpani’s profound CSR commitment drives Northwest’s support for education, healthcare, women’s empowerment, security, and religious institutions nationwide, including the Lagos Mobile Cancer Centre, Domestic Violence Response Team, and Nigeria Police Force. Her personal service earned papal honors: Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice (2009), Knight of St. Sylvester (KSS) (2021), and Calabar Archdiocese Silver Jubilee Award (2019)
Her contributions have been widely celebrated. She received the ICAN Merit Award, OFR National Honour (2023), Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Calabar (2024), and the Arise Media 50 Women Making Impact Award (2025). In 2025, she was appointed Pro-Chancellor and Chairperson of Augustine University, Ilara-Epe. A graduate of the University of Benin (B.Sc Mathematics, Upper Second Class) and University of Lagos (PGD Computer Science), she is a Fellow of ICAN and CIoD.
Passionate about reading, mentoring, and humanitarian service, Dame Winifred Akpani embodies entrepreneurial leadership that uplifts communities, empowers the vulnerable, and inspires a nation. A true Zik Prize laureate, she is faith in motion, enterprise with purpose, and legacy in service.
